Proposals for a new South Side primary school are set to be dropped after receiving “insufficient support” during consultation.
Glasgow City Council wants to ease the pressure on existing schools in the Gorbals and Govanhill as more homes are built in the south of the city.
It sought the views of the public on two options for a new school for children in Laurieston, Hutchesontown and the city centre.
But council officers have concluded there is “insufficient support for the proposal as set out in the consultation document” and no “clear consensus” among respondents.
The education convener, Cllr Chris Cunningham, will be asked to seek approval from the city administration committee for the plan not to be taken forward.
He said: “We have listened to the views of the local community and stakeholders who took part in the consultation and the recommendation is not to proceed with the new school options at the moment.
“If agreed by elected members at a future city administration committee, officers will then explore alternative options and go back out to ask for thoughts on the new plans.”
Funding secured for the creation of a new school would “no longer be guaranteed” for “whatever alternative solution is developed”, a council report added.
Instead, there would be further talks with the community, a new consultation and discussions with the Scottish Government over future funding.
Council staff would review whether a small school can be built near to Laurieston and the city centre and whether an extension to Blackfriars Primary School is possible.
The consultation, which ran from November 1 to January 5, proposed two options: repurposing the building at 5 Florence Street or the Adelphi Centre at 12 Commercial Road. It was proposed the new primary school would be associated with Bellahouston Academy.
Option two, redeveloping the Adelphi Centre, which was formerly the Adelphi Terrace Secondary School, was preferred as officers believed this provided “more opportunity to create a diverse range of teaching and learning spaces fit for a 21st century school”.
A council report added: “Finding a suitable site for a new establishment, however, was challenging owing to the limited availability of land.”
There were 80 responses to the consultation survey, with 34 from parents of primary school pupils and 24 from local residents. Of these replies, 21 preferred option one and 44 backed option two. Some respondents suggested alternatives or did not give a preference.
Many of the comments suggested there was a need for a secondary school and not a primary school. Most of those who called for an alternative proposal were in favour of extending the existing primary schools, Blackfriars and St Francis’.
“Overall, there was not a clear consensus being expressed by respondents,” the council report concluded.
It added there had been calls for the Adelphi Centre to be turned into a secondary school, but it is “not big enough to create an S1 to S6 school which would serve the local area”. “This would not address the need for more places for primary education in the area.”
In response to requests to extend St Francis’, the report stated the consultation was “only about proposing another non-denominational primary school”.
And to respondents who wanted Blackfriars to be extended, council officers replied that while there are “positive aspects to this proposal”, the school would “need at least six classrooms and one additional general purpose room plus break out areas” and extra dining space.
“This would impact significantly on the amount of play space available to the children,” the report added. Officers also said provisionally secured funding for a new school might not be “automatically available” for a refurbishment.
