No bid to delay, but T&R plans fallback amendment
TREASURY will not table a motion to force a delay on Education's proposals to rebuild La Mare de Carteret schools.
The department has ruled out laying a sursis motion itself, but will instead be drawing up amendments to provide 'fallback' options, if deputies decide to support the £60m. rebuild before a decision is made on the future of selection and needs of the secondary system.
These amendments would aim to ensure that if La Mare is rebuilt before a decision on the secondary schools, it should be on condition that the number of secondary schools drops from four to three, and the high school should also accommodate 960 pupils.
The Treasury board will argue in the States debate that it supports the need for a rebuild at La Mare, but it should happen only after a decision on the island's policy for the structure of secondary and tertiary education, including the number of schools, their sizes and locations.
The board warned that trying to decide what the right building was, before these plans were in place, could put two key things in jeopardy – the best educational outcomes of the children and value for money for taxpayers.
