Leeds parents want public meeting over '˜unacceptable' free school delay

Parents have taken their call to Leeds City Council (LCC) chief executive Tom Riordan calling for a public meeting to secure answers over the fate of the Roundhay school. Ongoing delays in settling on a preferred site - and concerns over openness about the options available - mean the whole scheme could end up being scrapped, they say.

“It feels as if we’re being used as a political football,” said Leeds father Damian Nicholls, whose daughter is set to start school in 2020. Everybody feels quite passionately in the need for a new local school. Yet nothing seems to be happening.

“Since 2015, we’ve made no real progress. There’s a lot of effort that’s gone into it. This is all lost if we don’t move forward.”

The Roundhay area in Leeds, dubbed the ‘black hole’ of primary school places, has long faced a shortage of spaces for young children. It came to a head in 2015 when dozens of families were unable to get places at any of their choice of schools, prompting a campaign from outraged parents.

To solve the issue, extra classes were added on to local schools but this was always to be a temporary measure and parents approached the Department of Education to secure funds to build a new free school. It was due to open this year but was delayed in a row over the siting of the school as the options were considered.

Frustrated at a lack of information, parents submitted Freedom of Information requests to LCC to find out what was happening and which areas were being assessed.

The debate took a new turn last month as the school trust said none of the previously considered sites were viable, instead launching a consultation over building instead at Elmete Wood. But this prompted further rows, with councillors stepping forward to say this wasn’t the case.

Now, as frustrated parents fight to simply find a solution, they are calling for a public meeting to “put the right people in the right place at the same time”.

In a letter signed by parents, campaigners said: “We are now extremely angry and frustrated. There is clearly significant lack of joint working. The information now in the public domain highlights inconsistencies in the information being given to the local community about exactly what sites could be developed. And we feel we are being pushed to accept a location for the school which is clearly inappropriate. This situation is unacceptable. The community successfully came together in 2015 and secured funding to provide a primary school for our children. We are now extremely worried that the hard work of local parents in securing EFA funding will have been in vain and that this funding could be spent in the wrong place. Worse still, that we could loose the funding altogether and are left with no long term solution for the shortage of primary school places in Roundhay.”

Coun Lisa Mulherin, LCC executive member for children and families said discussions over the site were ongoing: “We have been meeting over a period of months with a group of parents in order to keep the wider group informed. We remain committed to working with the parents to secure school places for this September.”