REVISED options for a radical shake-up of Flintshire’s secondary schools have been approved.
A second consultation will now be launched by Flintshire Council on how to deal with surplus places in the county’s schools.
Last night members of the full council approved £64 million measures after a previous consultation was thrown out a few months ago.
Controversial plans to close Argoed School in Mynydd Isa and combine Welsh and English medium education at a ‘super campus’ at Holywell High School have been dropped in the new set of options.
Fresh options for the Deeside towns of Connah’s Quay, Shotton and Queensferry have been put forward alongside others for Mold, Buckley and Mynydd Isa and for Holywell.
Cllr Nigel Steele-Mortimer, executive member for education, said the plans were not a “complete solution” to all education problems in Flintshire.
He said: “This is the biggest shake-up and investment in education for our children here in Flintshire, as far as I am aware, ever.
“I look forward to being part of it.”
In August hundreds of furious pupils, teachers and parents packed Clwyd Theatr Cymru to watch community leaders put a hold on the first consultation process after a motion proposed by the county’s opposition Labour group.
During last night’s meeting council chief executive Colin Everett praised the hard work of elected members, headteachers, governors, parents and staff to help come up with a new set of options.
“We took a big step back to reflect. We recognised the need to involve people in a different way. There was quite a lot of concern,” he said.
“We now want to encourage debate on the quality of the options. These are genuine options. There are no pre-determined outcomes.”
The £64m of funding, split evenly between the Welsh Government’s 21st Century Schools Programme and Flintshire Council’s capital programme, will pay for the preferred options.
After the consultation a preferred option for each of the three areas is expected in the autumn, with implementation in September 2015.
Council leader Arnold Woolley supported the new plans and said the original consultation had been halted for “good reason”: “I feel we can now move forward.”
Some members raised concerns about sixth form provision, surplus places at primary schools and the lack of plans for other schools in the county.
Connah’s Quay councillor Aaron Shotton, a former Flintshire Council leader, said the original consultation had been a “damaging exercise in terms of Flintshire Council’s reputation out there in the community.”
“I would like to seek assurances that we will be updated on the consultation process, starting with the next full council meeting. Let us keep hold of the matter.”
Cllr Woolley replied: “We fully intend to do just that.”
If just one objection is received in relation to the final options, the decision, under current legislation, will be handed to Welsh Ministers for final approval.