BY Daniel Harkins | May 16 | 
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East Dunbartonshire Council votes to close Catholic schools amid protests
Two schools in the north of Glasgow will be merged into one after a council vote yesterday evening, and two Kirkintilloch Catholic primaries will also be combined
Four Catholic primary schools will be closed and merged into two new builds after East Dunbartonshire Council voted to go ahead with redevelopment plans in spite of opposition from parents’ groups.
At last night’s special meeting, councillors voted to close St Joseph’s Primary, Milngavie, and St Andrew’s, Bearsden, and replace them with a new building on the current St Andrew’s site. The move will put an end to Catholic education in Milngavie after 140 years.
In the same meeting, councillors voted to close St Flannan’s and St Agatha’s primaries in Kirkintilloch and replace them with a £6.8 million building on the St Flannan’s site.
Parent’s from St Joseph’s Primary and those from St Agatha’s have lead the vociferous opposition to the council’s plans, staging regular protests including at the Scottish Labour Party Conference in March and outside East Dunbartonshire Council’s HQ before yesterday’s decision.
St Joseph’s and St Andrew’s were closed by a 14 to ten vote in favour of the decision but parents have vowed to fight on.
“Our message to councillors is that we are not going away and our fight will go on,” Laureen McIntyre, chairwoman of St Joseph’s Parent Council, said. “Parents, pupils and teachers at St Joseph’s and St Andrew’s all disagree with this merger and we have the full support of our Church.”
A spokesman for Glasgow Archdiocese voiced the Church’s disappointment at the decision to close St Joseph’s.
“This is a deeply disappointing decision and one that causes us great concern as the council is effectively planning to end Catholic education in Milngavie,” he said.
Glasgow Archdiocese did not voice opposition to the Kirkintilloch merger.
Council leaders have stated that all schools involved in the merger proposals are under occupied, with council leader Rhondda Geekie saying after the closure decision that ‘pouring money into old, outdated buildings’ was not cost effective. The council will now send the proposals to the Scottish Government for approval.
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