Cash crisis threatens school projects

seanie · Post by **seanie** » 05 Dec 2007, 19:13

http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/educa ... 1888432007

The council insisted no decisions have yet been made on any of the projects in the three-year programme and, if a scheme is now legally binding, it cannot be halted. But it declined to provide a full list of the projects under review.

More than £33 million was allocated earlier this year in the children and families budget for over 20 separate programmes. This involved development work at primary schools, including Craigentinny, Flora Stevenson, James Gillespies, Royal Mile, Longstone and Towerbank.

Maria · Post by **Maria** » 01 Feb 2008, 09:16

St John's closed early yesterday and is still closed today *sound of child cheering in the background* due to a power/heating failure. Looks like it also needs a bit of cash spent on its infrastructure.

SoupDragon · Post by **SoupDragon** » 01 Feb 2008, 12:08

The huts in the front playground of St Johns were built when my elder son was starting there.
He was 5.
I remember we had to petition the council for them as the school was bursting at the seams.
The huts were supposed to be a temporary measure.
He's going to be 21 this year.
The huts are still there.

Maria · Post by **Maria** » 18 Feb 2008, 18:04

Towerbank, Duddingston and St John's Primaries are all set to lose out according to this article in today's EN

£6m school revamps in limbo

seanie · Post by **seanie** » 19 Jun 2008, 17:09

The extension for Towerbank is going ahead but the project's been scaled back due to budget constraints. The main part of the works, the nursery and five classrooms, is going ahead but plans to realign or close the road in front of the school have been omitted. Also there's no money for any landscaping works so the garden (removed as part of the extension) won't be replaced and there won't be any resurfacing of the playgrounds or ash pitches.

Given that the extension will use up over half of the playground around the school building, there will be increased need to use the area on the other side of the road, making the decision to retain it as it is all the more worrying.