Story Archive

Lesson Not Learned

The primary school in Llanfynydd, in Carmarthenshire, Wales, has no students, but due to a “statutory process” that requires an official “consultation” process to be followed, leading to a “formal decision” and then a waiting period, the school cannot be closed. It only had 16 students at the start of the last school year, but that quickly dropped to 11 students, which triggered even more parents to withdraw their children and put them into other schools. Taxpayers are still picking up the bill for the head teacher, governors, and a caretaker, and locals are calling it a “phantom school.” The official “consultation” process started two years ago, and generated no dissension, but it’s not legal to shut down a school until the end of the school year, which is the end of the summer term. Thus, the school will be “open” for a full year after the last student left. Worse, it’s the second school in Carmarthenshire to have to stay open without students due to the law. (RC/London Telegraph) ...In other news, it appears that politicians in Carmarthenshire haven’t gone to school at all.