Scottish Catholic Observer

Parents are celebrating after the Scottish Government agreed to ‘call-in’ East Dunbartonshire Council’s decision to close Milngavie’s only Catholic school.

The council plans to merge St Joseph’s Primary in Milngavie with St Andrew’s Primary, Bearsden, and build a new denominational school on the current St Andrew’s site.

Supporters of St Joseph’s (above) and the Church have been fighting the plan.

In a letter to the council, ministers said the proposal might have included inaccurate data relating to financial information and the way in which the under-occupancy rate was calculated.

“There are concerns that the consultation report did not fully reflect or have regard to the level of opposition to the proposal,” the Scottish Government said.

The ‘call-in’ was also welcomed by the Glasgow Archdiocese, who have been against the council’s plan from the beginning. The archdiocese consistently opposed the plan to close St Joseph’s, a spokesman said.

“We welcome the decision of the Scottish Government to call in the proposal and it is our hope that St Joseph’s will continue as a well-regarded and popular Catholic primary school serving the people of Milngavie,” he added.

Members of the campaign to save St Joseph’s Primary have praised the support from Archbishop Tartaglia, who recently wrote to the Scottish Parliament asking them to stop the closure of the primary school.

Laureen McIntyre, chairwoman of St Joseph’s Parent Council, said they were delighted that the Scottish Government has decided to call the process in.

“I would like our local representatives to reflect on the fact that this could have been avoided if they had listened to our community, instead of ignoring us,” she added. “St Joseph’s is a fantastic school with the fastest growing roll in the whole of East Dunbartonshire. We belong in Milngavie and today’s decision gives us hope that this is where we will stay.”

East Dunbartonshire Council leader Rhondda Geekie said that ‘this is a complex process and it’s understandable that the Scottish Government wants to investigate the proposal further.’

“We welcome the same opportunity to explain in greater detail the educational benefits that we believe will come from our proposal to build a new £9m denominational primary school for Bearsden and Milngavie,” she said. “We understand the significance of any new school build for the local community and what we all have in common is that we want to get it right to ensure the best possible future education for the young people in the area.”

The council said it would work closely with the Scottish Government in its review of the council’s decision for the Milngavie and Bearsden schools. However, the main aim, the council said, still remains to deliver state of the art primary schools which are ‘better for pupils and cheaper to run and maintain.’

“The council must save a further £20m from its budget over the next three years,” Ms Geekie added. “On top of the £40m we have already saved, doing nothing in terms of our school estate to help address this was never an option.

“We have to ensure that our school buildings are as cost-effective as they can possibly be to ensure that we are getting value for money from our budget spending.”

The plans for St Joseph’s are stalled for now while the Scottish Government determines whether or not they will give their consent to the closure of the school.