CAMPAIGNERS reacted with disappointment to Powys County Council’s decision not to scrap the controversial draft secondary education modernisation report.
Joanne Morgan, who has set up the Facebook group ‘Say no to the closures of Llanidloes, Llanfyllin and Llanfair Caereinion High School’, said the fight will continue.
She said: “It was a shame that the amendment got voted in as Aled’s motion was overruled, but had we, as a people, not fought so hard the chances are this would still be a working document with no amendments.
“It is now our turn to make sure that we know exactly what is going on every step of the way, to be the thorn in the side that the councillors need. We won’t be going away.”
Union officials were also disappointed at the failure to bin the options contained in the report, with NASUWT negotiator for Powys and Welshpool High School teacher Neil Butler saying the meeting had changed nothing.
He said: “Our view is that that document was so offensive to parents and staff in schools that for this council to make a fresh start it needed to be killed and a fresh start made so we would have been in favour of the main motion.
“As far as I am concerned the amendment just changes the focus. The document still stands so we are no further forward and we are rapidly heading towards a precipice.”
Mary Compton of the NUT said: “As far as I am concerned the document is about money, saving money and it is not putting the education of children first.
“They are just playing for time. When they come back they will still be using the same kinds of criteria. I don’t think parents or children will be comforted by what has happened.”
Conservative councillors Aled Davies and Russell George both opposed the amendment and were disappointed at the failure to discard the controversial four models.
Cllr Davies said: “I left the debate feeling deeply frustrated, the four options are still on the table, we needed to remove them in order to reassure our schools and communities. No councillor had a good word to say about these options but the Independent and Lib Dem councillors voted against my motion to bin the four options.”
Cllr George said: “It was odd that almost every councillor who spoke was in full agreement with the arguments not to close our schools but couldn’t bring themselves to support the vote to throw out these options.”
However Cllr David Jones, portfolio holder for education, said the council had made the right decision.
He said: “I was pleased with the outcome because I think we can then say to the Welsh assembly Government that we are serious about modernising our schools and we are going to look at all options – nothing is off limits.
“People know we have problems and I think at this stage we cannot afford to say we are not going to look at certain options because then you could not say our policy would be rigorous.”