Red High PFA continues merger battle

Red High PFA continues merger battle

22 January 2020

A CALL has been made for the province’s new education minister to urgently look again at the proposed merger of three post-primary schools in Downpatrick.

The final decision to merge St Patrick’s Grammar School with De La Salle, and St Mary High Schools is facing Peter Weir following a two-month public consultation by the Education Authority (EA) last October.

While the EA has still to make the final decision to go ahead with its proposed merger, the ultimate decision was delayed in the absence of a Stormont Executive as it would have required the approval of either the minister or the Department of Education’s Permanent Secretary.

St Columba’s College in Portaferry was removed from the proposed merger last April.

The development proposal indicated merging the schools by April of this year.

However, Cormac Artt, spokesperson for the Red High Parents and Friends Association — the parents’ body of St Patrick’s Grammar School — has pledged to fight on against the proposed merger.

Last night Mr Artt said: “The fight against the continued intransigent persistence of the Catholic Council for Maintained Schools (CCMS) and De La Salle Brothers to steamroll through their proposed amalgamation of St Patrick’s Grammar School, St Mary’s High School and De La Salle High School, against the wishes of students and parents, will not let up.

“We are determined to highlight the shortcomings of this short-sighted and poorly thought out proposal by all means available to us, including legal measures if necessary.”

Mr Artt said that as the merger proposal was ready to be actioned by the Education Authority, the appointment of a new education minister was welcomed by the Red High PFA.

He stressed that the proposal was bad news for local rural students and parents who wanted local grammar education as well as the financial impact on the newly formed merged school.

Mr Artt said: “The proposal drastically ignores the rural impact on students and families in this area. It negates the wishes of small communities from Loughinisland to Strangford, from Saintfield to Drumaness, to choose post-primary grammar education for their children, and has, and continues to create uncertainty, anxiety and an undetermined future for their children in this area.

“Notwithstanding the rural impact, the total amount of money from Westminster is not as expected in the new deal. The department budgets will be significantly lower than anticipated and schools will find themselves being forced into fiscal decisions that will ultimately affect children, parents and families. This proposal will do just that. It will create a superschool that will automatically go into the red.”

He rounded on Sinn Fein and the SDLP and accused the parties of “burying their heads in the sand”, of refusing to engage with parents and “persisting in their attitude because they are right and we are wrong.”

Mr Artt added: “We will engage with Peter Weir of the DUP to show how wrong this is. 

“This is not Belfast, Newry or Derry. This is a rural location that calls for a rural solution. This has been ignored and is being erased because of the bigger picture, the ‘one size fits all’ caveat that amalgamation supporters are so happy to support with no evidence to back it up.”

Mr Artt added: “The Red High PFA calls upon Peter Weir to look at this proposal for what it is — not worth the paper it’s written on.

“It denies choice, it denies equality, it ignores the rural community, it will lead to a fall in standards and impact this area for generations to come.”