School places in Greystones
Greystones Councillor Lourda Scott remains critical of the Department of Education’s handling of the school places crisis. Speaking after the announcement that Greystones Community College (GCC) will take an additional 20 students for Sept 2024, Scott said: “The crisis with secondary school places is no surprise to anyone living in the area. Three months ago I called out Minister Foley for her handling of this situation, where children, including those with additional needs are being treated abysmally. Since then I have met in person with our TDs and repeatedly asked the Department for a concrete strategy to manage the lack of appropriate school accommodation for the community’s needs. I have also continually sought clarification on the exact number of places required for Sept 2024 and a contingency plan for Sept 2025. I have received absolutely no answers from either the Department of Education or our TDs. The so called solution has been to instruct GCC to take in another class, even though it is the only secondary school in the district based in temporary buildings across two separate sites. While I am delighted that 20 more young people will come off GCC’s waiting list, it must be remembered that this will have a knock on effect on intake for next year. The fact that the Department has provided no plan to address this is extremely concerning to me. I am also concerned that there is no plan to address the children on waiting lists for special classes. In Greystones, secondary school special classes are either not offered by the school or are full. I am baffled at the local politicians that are celebrating when in fact they should be holding the Department of Education to account for its failures in the handling of the issue and interrogating the lack of forward planning by the Minister for Education.”
Scott notes that several people have spoken to her recently about difficulties in getting children places in junior infant classes and expects that the school places crises is far from being resolved.
“While not yet confirmed, we hope that construction for the permanent building for GCC will start in the next few months, almost five years after the announcement of the new secondary school for Greystones Kilcoole. In that time the proposed extensions for Colaiste Craobh Abhainn and Temple Carrig have progressed very slowly and all must be expedited to meet the needs in the area. I will continue to pressure the Department in this respect” Scott concluded
