EDUCATION chiefs have admitted lessons have been learned as they relaunch a controversial secondary schools shake-up.
Flintshire Council called a halt to its schools modernisation strategy last year after coming under fire from angry parents, but councillors have now agreed to resume consultations from next Monday following a major review.
Proposals put forward could see as much as £98million invested in building new schools with the council having to raise most of the money.
Argoed High School and Ysgol Gwenffrwd – the two schools that promoted the biggest outcry from parents – are no longer included in the options.
Chief executive Colin Everett said the council had been through a “difficult time” but believes the new options are “much stronger”.
He said: “We are really confident. It is the same three areas for review for the same reasons as before but a revised set of options.
“We have learned lessons and we hope others involved in the process have also learned lessons.”
Parents opposed to the original options, which included closing Argoed High School, protested outside County Hall in Mold.
Council bosses said they were not surprised by the strength of feeling but Mr Everett said a minority of campaigners went too far.
He said: “Some of the campaigning bordered on vitriolic and led to quite a lot of tension.
“I had to write to some campaigners in legal language because they were in danger of bringing the council into disrepute.
“Last time the vast majority of people campaigned properly. It is just a few who did not act responsibly.”
Options are designed to reduce the number of surplus places, in line with Welsh Government policy and to improve school buildings – many of which are no longer fit for purpose.
Millions could be spent building new schools in Holywell and Connah’s Quay, which could also become home to a new sixth form facility.
The Welsh Government has committed £32million to some projects on the basis the council invests the same amount.
But some of the other schemes do not qualify for Welsh Government funding, meaning the council would have to pick up the cost. It is not yet clear where the money will come from if councillors decide to proceed with the stand-alone schemes.
The new round of consultations ends on March 19 and parents will have until April 27 to submit responses.
Flintshire’s director of lifelong learning, Ian Budd, said the consultation format had also been revised after criticism from parents.
He said: “We have put a lot of thought into how we will run the meetings.
“We will effectively have two presentations followed by a question and answer session.
“There will be formal meetings for those who want them and we will have officers available for one-to-one sessions too.”
Mr Budd said there was no deadline on the modernisation programme and said new options could still materialise.
He said: “We have always said if additional options come forward that are stronger than the others then they will rise to the surface.
“We will work on the options and consult until we are very clear the proposed changes will deliver what we want.”
See today's Leader for the full list of options.