PROPOSALS to close a special needs school in Bangor have been backed by Gwynedd councillors.
A meeting of the council’s Children and Young People’s Committee unanimously backed a report which called for a consultation to close Ysgol Coed Menai on Ffordd Treborth.
Gwynedd Council’s education department recently adopted a county-wide inclusion strategy to improve the support for pupils with behavioural problems.
A spokesman said: ”The improvements which will be implemented will ensure better support for these pupils in their local school.”
24 pupils currently attend the school, and Gwynedd Council expected that four of them would need educational support for complex emotional and behavioural difficulties.
The spokesman added that a new specialised unit will be built by September for pupils with severe behavioural and emotional problems.
He added: “The remaining 14 pupils come from Conwy and Anglesey, and the education departments of both council have confirmed that they will not be sending pupils to Ysgol Coed Menai from September onwards.
Gwynedd councillor for Menai ward Keith Marshall said the school was an outstanding establishment in the 1970 and 80s, but that the building and educational standard had since declined.
He said: “It will be cheaper to close it down and sell off the property and have the money there to rebuild elsewhere, and spread some of it round individuals schools so that they deal with problems, rather than dealing with it in separate establishments.”
“It’s regrettable, but one has to hope that the closure will not be used for saving money, because that is one of the dangers in this current climate when the council is short of money.”
The Council Board will rule on whether there will be a consultation on Tuesday, February 14.
A meeting of the council’s Children and Young People’s Committee unanimously backed a report which called for a consultation to close Ysgol Coed Menai on Ffordd Treborth.
Gwynedd Council’s education department recently adopted a county-wide inclusion strategy to improve the support for pupils with behavioural problems.
A spokesman said: ”The improvements which will be implemented will ensure better support for these pupils in their local school.”
24 pupils currently attend the school, and Gwynedd Council expected that four of them would need educational support for complex emotional and behavioural difficulties.
The spokesman added that a new specialised unit will be built by September for pupils with severe behavioural and emotional problems.
He added: “The remaining 14 pupils come from Conwy and Anglesey, and the education departments of both council have confirmed that they will not be sending pupils to Ysgol Coed Menai from September onwards.
Gwynedd councillor for Menai ward Keith Marshall said the school was an outstanding establishment in the 1970 and 80s, but that the building and educational standard had since declined.
He said: “It will be cheaper to close it down and sell off the property and have the money there to rebuild elsewhere, and spread some of it round individuals schools so that they deal with problems, rather than dealing with it in separate establishments.”
“It’s regrettable, but one has to hope that the closure will not be used for saving money, because that is one of the dangers in this current climate when the council is short of money.”
The Council Board will rule on whether there will be a consultation on Tuesday, February 14.