Last night saw the Full Council make individual decisions regarding the futures of all bar four Island schools. 65 separate decisions in total and it took just over 6 hours, finishing just after midnight this morning.......
Of the 65 decisions we had recorded 'named votes' at my initiation on the 10 most significant decisions . These were the competition awards for the five new secondary schools, the closure of Chale and the 3 Ventnor primary schools, and the creation of a joint-faith Ventnor super primary.
Voting on the night can be summarised as follows:
Middle Schools closures confirmed - generally Cllrs Welsford, Joyce, Stephens, Downer, Churchman, Bacon (all independent) and myself always against, with the Tories, LibDems and Cllrs Fuller, Humby and Dyer (independents) always in favour;
High Schools closures confirmed - generally Cllrs Welsford, Joyce and myself always against, with the Tories, LibDems and Fuller, Humby and Dyer (independents) always in favour;
Primary School enlargements to 4-11 confirmed - only Welsford and Joyce against them all, with myself abstaining on the vast majority - as these in the main were a fait accompli given the earlier votes;
Primary School closures - the three Ventnor ones confirmed with 10 votes against (independents and me) and the Ventnor super-primary approved, and the Chale one deferred for 2 months to give them one last chance to seek federation;
Competition awards - unanimous that the local Medina Innovation Trust should run the Carisbrooke and Medina/Fairlee secondary schools, and that the Cowes Partnership Pathfinder Trust should run the Cowes secondary school. For Ryde and Sandown secondaries I proposed that the local East Wight Educational Trust should be awarded the contract, as opposed to them becoming unaccountable Academies run from Essex (subject to funding). The Ryde one was lost with just 5 votes in favour - me and the 4 LibDems still present (Barry, Howe, Knowles and Richards). On the Sandown one I got just 4 votes as another LibDem had gone home. At least I tried and the 'names' of those who voted for the Academies are in the Minutes for posterity.
The Council then voted an additional £400k for a new primary school transport system - to be funded from savings at County Hall....jobs?
So seven years after the LibDems initiated school reorganisation we are just one year away from it commencing; after the 2007 Tory U-turn to beat all u-turns having being elected in 2005 to retain the 3-tier system.
What's the betting there will be more obstacles on the road to the new secondary schools being established in September 2011 ?
Of the 65 decisions we had recorded 'named votes' at my initiation on the 10 most significant decisions . These were the competition awards for the five new secondary schools, the closure of Chale and the 3 Ventnor primary schools, and the creation of a joint-faith Ventnor super primary.
Voting on the night can be summarised as follows:
Middle Schools closures confirmed - generally Cllrs Welsford, Joyce, Stephens, Downer, Churchman, Bacon (all independent) and myself always against, with the Tories, LibDems and Cllrs Fuller, Humby and Dyer (independents) always in favour;
High Schools closures confirmed - generally Cllrs Welsford, Joyce and myself always against, with the Tories, LibDems and Fuller, Humby and Dyer (independents) always in favour;
Primary School enlargements to 4-11 confirmed - only Welsford and Joyce against them all, with myself abstaining on the vast majority - as these in the main were a fait accompli given the earlier votes;
Primary School closures - the three Ventnor ones confirmed with 10 votes against (independents and me) and the Ventnor super-primary approved, and the Chale one deferred for 2 months to give them one last chance to seek federation;
Competition awards - unanimous that the local Medina Innovation Trust should run the Carisbrooke and Medina/Fairlee secondary schools, and that the Cowes Partnership Pathfinder Trust should run the Cowes secondary school. For Ryde and Sandown secondaries I proposed that the local East Wight Educational Trust should be awarded the contract, as opposed to them becoming unaccountable Academies run from Essex (subject to funding). The Ryde one was lost with just 5 votes in favour - me and the 4 LibDems still present (Barry, Howe, Knowles and Richards). On the Sandown one I got just 4 votes as another LibDem had gone home. At least I tried and the 'names' of those who voted for the Academies are in the Minutes for posterity.
The Council then voted an additional £400k for a new primary school transport system - to be funded from savings at County Hall....jobs?
So seven years after the LibDems initiated school reorganisation we are just one year away from it commencing; after the 2007 Tory U-turn to beat all u-turns having being elected in 2005 to retain the 3-tier system.
What's the betting there will be more obstacles on the road to the new secondary schools being established in September 2011 ?
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