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Vow to fight on as High Court backs school merger
BATTLING parents and pupils have vowed to carry on their fight to stop a controversial Sheffield school merger despite being dealt a crushing blow by the High Court.
Thousands of people had signed a petition opposing the planned integration of Wisewood and Myers Grove schools, which had been voted for 43 to 40 at a full council meeting in July last year.
Members of Save Our Community Schools, SOCS, were hoping a last-ditch Judicial Review over Sheffield Council's conduct in the matter would halt proceedings.
But now they have been dealt a massive blow after Mr Justice Stanley Burnton refused the application for a Judicial Review at the High Court.
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He said: "There was no arguable defect in the consultation procedure, including the time allowed.
"It has not been shown that the defendant, Sheffield Council, arguably failed to take the results of the consultation into account."
A council spokeswoman said today it would definitely be going ahead with the merger but would "be working with parents at every stage" and a working group had been set-up.
"We want to work with everyone and make sure everyone is involved in the process," she said. The council says it is not financially viable to keep both Wisewood and Myers Grove open due to falling pupil numbers.
It plans to build a new 20m school on the Myers site, which will be opened in 2011.
Most Myers Grove parents were today delighted with the High Court decision - but parents at Wisewood vowed to continue the battle to block the merger - compared by one to Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United merging.
Darren Clapham, a leading member of SOCS, pledged: "We will continue the fight all the way. The fight will go on to the very end to stop this merger," he told The Star.
"No traffic impact assessment report has been made public yet and this is a major point. Air pollution is already high in the Malin Bridge area and children's safety has not been looked at.
"The new school will have places for 1,050 pupils based on the presumed drop for a couple of years, but when pupil rolls return to what they are now, where will the surplus pupils go?
"Wisewood is now just behind Bradfield and other top schools in Sheffield, so why destroy something which has a great success rate, as it cannot be guaranteed that this success can be continued at the new school.
"The merger has been a sham from the off.
"A petition against the merger with over 3,500 signatures was handed into council.
"It seems the Labour council do not want to listen to what Sheffield people want."
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Latest sport.Angry parent Lee Stevens said: "This merger was a council sham and the consultation was a big farce. I went to the consultation meetings and they did not want to know what parents wanted at all.
"It is Labour's policy to keep good schools open with good exam results and Wisewood should stay open on this count alone.
"Myers and Wisewood will always be rivals and it's like saying Sheffield United and Wednesday should merge. We will keep fighting.
"The council has never talked about safety of children walking to the new school.
"Is this not a big concern of theirs at all? What about traffic gridlock in the area?
"Parents I know are thinking of getting a minibus together to get to the new school if it goes ahead.
"Myers can't attract numbers to its school but Wisewood can and again is full.
"There is no problem at Wisewood and the problem is Myers. The simple solution is to make Myers a small school.
"To say that SOCS is a small splinter group is crazy. How can all those people who signed the petition be wrong?"
One 11-year-old girl who attends Wisewood said: "Me and my friends do not want the merger to go ahead. Wisewood is a good school and has got a great gym.
"I will be going into Year 11 when the new school opens and I don't want it to mess up my GCSE results. Not many of the kids at Wisewood want to go to the new school and I sent in a petition from Wisewood Primary last year and nobody listened.
"Me and my friends feel safe travelling to Wisewood school.
"With muggings and drug dealings in the area, I would not feel safe at Stannington or Myers.
"Please Sheffield Council, don't close my school."
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