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15.12.05
Bounds Green Liberal Democrats are demanding that Labour-controlled Haringey Council scraps the plans to merge Bounds Green's Infant and Junior schools and are calling for an urgent review of this decision.
The Lib Dems claim that because the two schools currently spend more than Haringey Council allocates the merger has been proposed.
The schools are also to be further penalised by removing the merger "dowries" that other schools have been given.
John Oakes, Liberal Democrat Focus Editor for Bounds Green ward, said:
"Haringey Council officers say that the overspend can be rectified after a few years. But amalgamation won't change the basic facts, so it can't save money. We just don't believe their projections.
"And there's no indication that a combined school will deliver better education than the present two-school system - so we are calling for the merger plans to be scrapped."
Haringey's merger-proposal financial forecasts are suspect; the National Union of Teachers (NUT) has even offered to pay for an independent study. Haringey's figures still show the combined school in deficit even when all the "benefits" of merger-mainly a reduction to two-form entry and the loss of one head teacher - have been taken into account. This is because problems 2,3 and 4 above will still remain.
The disruption of merger could well "encourage" some experienced and expensive members of staff to move on, to be replaced by younger, cheaper teachers. But this would not necessarily benefit the pupils and their attainment.
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