Councillors did listen (Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats)

Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats <info@oxfordshirelibdems.org.uk>

Councillors did listen

July 16, 2007 3:18 PM

Cllr Jim Moley reacted to a letter in his local paper alleging that councillors had not listened to the views of King Alfred's School by pointing out that they had listened - but to the views of the whole community as shown in an opinion poll carried out by an independent market research organisation. He said:

"Last week, a retired senior teacher from King Alfred's Comprehensive bitterly criticized certain local councillors for disagreeing with the School Governing Body of which they have been members.

"The subject of this disagreement was the strategic organisation of secondary education over the next twenty years for a local secondary school population scheduled to expand to 2500 plus.

"The view of those Councillors was supported by two polls carried out by independent market research firms of the relevant parents and communities in the catchment area.

"I argued strongly for those polls and their findings influenced the decision of the County Council against the unpopular strategic vision of the Governing Body for a school of 2500 plus, ultimately on one site, and in favour of a separate secondary school in Grove with its own sixth form in the long run. Of course, if there is a sixth form in Grove, I would hope to see co-operation between the two schools - as is done so successfully in Abingdon and Didcot, for example.

"There are important issues arising from this strategic debate. It seems inevitable that the interests of the leaders of the current school would lead them to seek enlargement to a super school of 2500 plus, even against the wishes of parents and community who favoured separate schools of 1250 including sixth forms.

"In my opinion, such divergence between the wishes of the school leaders and their community is inevitable when these leaders do not have to stand for election on their strategic visions. Elected councillors will inevitably place more weight on the views of the community as a whole, as evidenced by independent market research, in coming to a decision. I do not think that councillors should be blamed now for listening!"