Parents demand equality for Musselburgh Grammar School as plans for second school set to go ahead

A council report following a six-week public consultation exercise has recommended that an additional secondary school be built on land near Wallyford in a bid to cope with the influx of new housing.

This option was opposed by Musselburgh Grammar School Parent Council, which largely favoured a single school for the town.

Now the parent council is calling on the local authority to pledge that money is available “to guarantee education at the two schools will be of equal quality”.

Sean Elliot, co-chairman of the parent council, said: “We want answers to alleviate parents’ fears, as our questions about the future of the existing school have not been answered.”

The consultation was a “done deal”, Mr Elliot alleged, and he claimed most of their questions around the financial case for a new school, even when they submitted a Freedom of Information request, were not answered.

“We have an existing school in great need of upgrading and, despite making several requests to ensure this would happen, the council says no money will be given to upgrade Musselburgh Grammar School.”

Gaynor Allen, co-chairwoman of the parent council, added: “Unlike the cluster primary schools, the Grammar does not have interactive whiteboards in every class, so if a teacher wants to use the internet for a class, they have to book a room in advance. The building has no dedicated study areas for senior pupils, despite them having up to 10 hours of study periods every week.”

Although there were 423 responses to the consultation from the Musselburgh, Wallyford and Whitecraig area, the parent council felt this was a very small number and many people did not respond over fears it was a “done deal”.

Ms Allen added: “Although our parent council is largely in favour of one school for one community, what we wanted was for the facts to be presented in a way in which everyone could make up their own minds and we do not believe this happened.”

The parent council co-chairs have urged members of the community to ensure councillors understand their views and concerns when they come to vote on the plan at a council meeting in Haddington on December 22.

Councillor Stuart Currie, a member for Musselburgh East and Carberry and leader of the council’s opposition SNP group, said: “I have long been concerned about the way in which pupils who can currently walk to Musselburgh Grammar School will now be faced with a hike to the proposed new school, as East Lothian Council appear to have confirmed that there will be no home to school transport provided.

“In my view, what this will lead to is a significant increase in traffic surrounding the new school, as more and more parents drop their children at the building. At a time when we are trying to encourage travel to school by walking or cycling, children who are in Musselburgh may end up doing neither as congestion increases.

“A number of constituents have raised the issue that the areas that have the most deprivation in my ward will all be going to the new school. As a former pupil at Musselburgh Grammar, I have always believed that one of the key strengths of the existing school has been having year groups that are ‘wealth blind’, where you make friends that often last a lifetime. To potentially lose this ‘one Musselburgh community’ approach is a matter of real regret.

“The issue that has been brought home to me is the utter lack of a planned investment strategy for the current Musselburgh Grammar School on either a short, medium or long-term basis. There is not a penny in the five-year capital plan of this current administration for new investment in IT or providing accommodation that is up to current standards.

“Apart from routine maintenance, there will be no significant capital investment in the current school for the next 19 years thanks to the Private Finance Contract and unwillingness by the current council to invest. In 2035, the school will be handed to East Lothian Council with facilities that are more than 30 years out of date. In my view this is letting down students both now and in the future as well as our community. East Lothian Council must now commit significant capital resources to improve the current school facilities.”

A council spokesperson said: “East Lothian Council is committed to ensuring that all its secondary schools provide a high-quality learning experience. Musselburgh Grammar was upgraded with the rest of our secondary school estate through PPP around 10 years ago.

“Innovate East Lothian Limited is contracted to maintain and operate East Lothian Council’s six secondary schools until year 2035. Inbuilt into the contract are rigorous performance standards that Innovate East Lothian Limited is contracted to achieve. The performance standards ensure that the schools are ‘kept in safe, good and substantial condition and good decorative order’ and that a robust maintenance and lifecycle replacement programme of work is set out for the remainder of the contract period. Some of the matters relating to allocations and equipment can be resolved by the school itself under its devolved school management arrangement.

“The proposal is not a ‘done deal’ – the council can vote on three options on December 20, namely: to adopt the proposal; withdraw the proposal and make no additional provision for secondary school education; or undertake a further consultation exercise on a new proposal.

“As to the consultation, I can confirm that it was carried out in line with the appropriate guidance and we felt the response rate was reasonable, especially as some of the responses were made on behalf of multiple stakeholders.

“We used the same consultation process for secondary provision as we did for the new Wallyford Primary, which Education Scotland said people had viewed as a positive process. The Freedom of Information request, likewise, was dealt with in line with the legislation.

“We will continue to keep all stakeholders up to date with developments as they unfold.”