This week’s meeting of York’s Conservative-led Executive will decide on a proposal to create 15 new places each year at Scarcroft Primary School in order to meet the growing demand from families living in the school’s catchment area.
The council is responsible for ensuring there are enough school places within the authority and has responded to the request for additional spaces made to the Regional Schools Commissioner by the South Bank Multi Academy Trust Board, to which Scarcroft Primary and neighbouring Millthorpe Secondary School belong.
The extra places are expected to cost £225k from the Basic Need Fund, converting the car parking on the Scarcroft site will cost £26k from the same fund and a multi-use games area to be built on the Millthorpe School site next door will cost approximately £1m, also from the Basic Need Fund.
The council will encourage the Trust to consult with the local community on the best places to site the games and play facilities, and it has already been agreed that during the school day the games site could be used by other local schools.
Cllr. Stuart Rawlings, Executive Member for Education, children and Young People said: “Ensuring that there are enough school places for the city’s pupils is a challenge that all authorities face and which this proposal aims to meet. Rapid growth in pupil numbers in the catchment of a listed Victorian building has led to a rigorous consultation process with high levels of resident involvement in order to reach this proposal. “