Desperate parents call for new school funding (From Sutton Guardian)

Desperate parents call for support to gain funding for new Kingston school

7:00am Friday 8th June 2012 in News By Clare Buchanan

Desperate parents are asking for support for their petition that calls on the education secretary to take action and provide funding for the borough’s new secondary school.

The group hope Michael Gove MP will reconsider the decision not to fund the non-selective co-educational community school to open in the north of the borough by 2015.

So far 443 have signed the petition, which was launched shortly after Kingston Council discovered they were not included in the 42 schools the Government is prioritising for cash under the Priority School Building Programme (PSBP).

The council had been relying on the money to finance the school, which is due to open on the north Kingston centre site to help address the shortage of school places in the borough.

The announcement, on Thursday, May 25, had been delayed several times and leaves the already stretched local authority to find an alternative way of raising the £30m for the new school.

It is expected that works will need to start in September 2013 for the school to open on time.

Petition organiser Catherine Greenwood, from Elm Road, Kingston, said she has been urging passionate parents to “bombard” members of parliament with letters on the issue to strengthen their case.

She said: “We are pleased with the response to the petition so far.

“If we can get to 1,000 signatures we can be pleased with that and can use the volume to raise awareness.”

The 42-year-old mother of two said the situation is a huge concern for parents in the borough who already have to put up with having their children educated in bulge classes and temporary classrooms.

She said parents would continue to work with the council on the issue and hopes to launch a paper petition alongside the online version, which closes on Saturday, June 30.

For more information visit epetition.kingston.public-i.tv /epetition_core/view/northkingstonsecondaryschool or facebook.com/kingstonsecon dayschoolactiongroup or email kingstonsecondary schools@yahoo.co.uk.