'IT'S A THIRD RATE SOLUTION'

Under the Bradford schools shake-up Whetley Primary School and Buttershaw High School are being told to move into former middle school buildings which still require major repairs costing hundreds of thousands of pounds.

But governors at the primary school are demanding that they have more temporary classrooms unless their new school at the former Whetley Middle School is made watertight.

And teachers at Buttershaw High School have warned managers that they are not prepared to move on to the former Buttershaw Middle School building in September if it remains in its dilapidated state.

Today, the council confirmed that there are about 15 schools where major repairs are still needed.

But it has been revealed that there is no money in the council's re-organisation budget to pay for the "maintenance" work.

The council says the work will be done on a priority basis and will be shortly programmed into a schedule.

But the schools want guarantees that the work will be completed when they re-open in September.

National Union of Teachers (NUT) health and safety advisor for Bradford, Miriam Murch said: "The issue needs addressing urgently.

"If the education authority is proposing to move them somewhere they have got to make sure it is a safe building in the first place. Otherwise what are the kids going to do, sit in a field?"

Governors at Whetley Primary School have discovered that the building they are expected to moving into needs a new roof and windows just to make it watertight.

A damning building survey on Whetley Middle School, shows that £214,870 of repairs are required. It describes the roofs and timber window frames as being in generally poor condition and states: "This results in large amounts of water penetration causing damage internally."

Whetley Primary chairman of governors Dr Martin Taylor says he is angry that the school was not warned about the problem and had to find out for itself.

"We were told that as well as delivering a two tier system the reorganisation would deliver first class buildings for schools in Bradford," he said. "But this is a third rate solution. "

Mrs Murch said that Buttershaw Middle School needed about £400,000 of work to bring it up to scratch. NUT members at Buttershaw High School, which will temporarily occupy the middle school site, have said they will not move there unless repairs are carried out.

And Richard Lewis, head teacher at Buttershaw Primary School which will use the middle school when the high school has moved out, said: "It isn't in a very good condition. There are some bricks missing and the front terrace has been taken out of use because it is in such a bad state of repair."

Buttershaw High head teacher, John Hull said: "We are assuming that the work will be done in time. There is no choice but for it to happen otherwise the school cannot open in September."

A council spokesman said the repairs requested by the high school were being reviewed. A check had not revealed any "overriding" health and safety issues but officers were continuing to monitor the situation.

Under the re-organisation Whetley Middle School will need major internal adaptations just to turn it into a primary school. But staff are concerned that the new plaster and paint work will be ruined.

Deputy head teacher Jackie Jackson said: "It just seems so senseless to spend so much money on the inside of the building when we know that the roof and window frames are not water tight."

Dr Taylor said that he was worried that the school would have to pay for damage caused by the leaks. If the costs became too high it could eventually mean cutting back on teachers.

He is also fears that the council will delay doing the repair work. He has spent months just trying to establish which department is responsible.

"We have been passed from pillar to post," he said. "I was told that the director of education was too busy with meetings to speak to me for several days.

"It makes me so angry that she can't even be bothered to pick up the telephone to speak to me."

A letter was eventually received in which the head of schools reorganisation Angela Drizi emphasised that re-organisation funding could not be used to address "maintenance" issues. She added that from September the middle school site would legally become the primary school's site.

Bradford secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers, Ian Davey said: "I think it is totally wrong. They ought to stay where they are if that is the case. The local authority ought to have checked the condition of the building."

A Bradford Council education spokesman said the situation at Whetley Primary had already been explained but in view of the school's concerns officers were prepared to organise another meeting with the governors.

She said: "A survey of all schools in the district is almost complete and a detailed analysis will be carried out once it is complete. Where schools are moving to a different site as part of the reorganisation in the majority of cases they are going to buildings in a better condition.

"Urgent work will obviously receive top priority and major renewal work is already taking place on some buildings which are being taken over by different schools in September. Further work is already scheduled for over the summer."

e-mail: william.stewart@bradford.newsquest.co.uk

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