A LEADING Forest clergyman and chairman of the governors of Dean Hall special needs school has hit out at the decision to close it.
The Rev Canon Clifford Davies of Ruardean condemned the move to shut Dean Hall and Oakdene special schools as playing 'political games' with the futures of special needs pupils and their parents.
"I am bitterly disappointed for the staff, for those who have supported the school so well and fought so hard to try to stem off closure, but above all disappointed for the children of the area who need such an establishment," he told the Review.
"Dean Hall is an excellent school with dedicated staff. It has expertise and experience in educating and caring for those children who require that extra bit of attention to help them get on in the world and, in its present form, is an unquestionable asset to the Forest of Dean.
"The school has been a big part of my life for over 20 years and it is sad to think that political games have taken precedent over the educational welfare of children with special needs."
Canon Davies welcomes the fact that a proposed new special needs school on the old Dean Hall site will ensure some special needs presence in the Dean but is concerned that it will cater for fewer pupils.
"I am also concerned at how those extra special needs children, who will now have to attend mainstream schools, will cope," said the canon.
"My thoughts and concerns, of course, equally go out to the children, staff and parents of Oakdene School."
Last week's decision by a government adjudicator on Gloucestershire County Council's proposal to shut the schools has been widely condemned in letters to the Review as ignoring the views of parents, teachers and governors of both establishments.