Parents seek legal advice on school closure

Parents of children attending a Limerick secondary school are to seek legal advice after they were told they could not appeal…

Parents of children attending a Limerick secondary school are to seek legal advice after they were told they could not appeal a decision to close the school.

St Enda’s Community School in Southill is due to close in 2015 following a decision by school trustees to phase out postprimary education at the school “in the best interests of the students”.

The low number of students attending the school – just 143 – is believed to be one of the main reasons for the closure. It opened in 1973 and at its peak had more than 700 students. A trustees’ report cites population decrease in the locality, a decline in the size of the primary school population in Southill and the resulting decline in enrolment from feeder schools as among the other reasons for the closure.

The trustees say the school will be used for other educational activities including adult, community and youth education programmes.

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Parents of children attending it say they are still determined to save it, even though they were told at a recent meeting that it was not possible to appeal the decision made by the trustees.

Karol Canty, whose daughter attends the school, said: “At first we were told we could appeal the decision but now we have been told that we are not entitled to appeal, but we are willing to fight it every step of the way so we are going to try to get some legal advice.”