A West Lothian high school is facing a massive bill to tackle repairs after dangerous crumbling concrete was found in its roof.
Councillors agreed to spend more than £1.2m to relocate an entire department within St Kentigern’s Academy to keep the school open during exams after decaying Siporex roof panels were identified.
More than 4,000sqm of roof space was surveyed.
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The work will involve internal restructuring of the building as well as providing additional classroom space and covering the cost of relocating equipment.
The Craft, Design and Technology (CDT) department in the Blackburn secondary school will have to move from its existing classrooms to another part of the building to allow remedial work to start.
Urgent reports were brought before West Lothian Council’s Executive this week, which approved the spend.
Councillors will find out how much the repairs to the roof will cost when they meet in June, just days before the summer holidays start.
The relocation spend is the latest big bill facing the council which has so far had to spend millions relocating premises and carrying out repair work on buildings where Siporex, also known as Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) has been discovered and identified as a risk.
The bill will take the total council spend to tackle Siporex in West Lothian since 2021 to near £10m in terms of relocation and survey costs, as well as remedial work.
Structural engineers are hopeful that the St Kent’s discovery will be the last major find of Siporex in the council’s property stock.
The Roman Catholic high school is the largest in West Lothian, with a roll in excess of 1,300 pupils travelling from across the county each day. It was built in 1973 and refurbished in 1995/6. An extensive refurbishment of the school was completed in September 2009.
St Kent's counts chart topper Lewis Capaldi and Britain's Got Talent star Susan Boyle among its former pupils.
Among the buildings where work is being carried out are the Lanthorn community centre in Livingston, Whitburn community centre, the Fauldhouse partnership and several local primary schools.
Following a report to the Executive last June ongoing inspections have been taking place at St Kent’s.
A report to the Executive on Tuesday morning said: “Between November 2022 and the present date, detailed inspections have been undertaken by structural engineers with specialist RAAC knowledge.
"These have been complex due to the extent of the areas that required to be surveyed (around 4,300 sqm), and the necessary preparatory works such as asbestos surveys, ceiling removals and reinstatements and access requirements.”
It added: “In November 2022, following a structural engineer inspection, the full closure of the dining and kitchen areas was necessary, with dining space allocated to the assembly hall and a temporary production kitchen set up in the rear playground.
“Throughout the detailed inspection process, other spaces have been required to have been closed following recommendations by the structural engineer relating to the condition of the RAAC panels and other relevant factors. These have primarily been three rooms in CDT, one music classroom, male and female toilets and changing rooms.
“On 14 April the Council’s external structural engineers provided written advice to the council recommending the closure of the entire RAAC area of the school immediately. The RAAC section of the school was closed with immediate effect the same day.”
The Executive has approved construction work in the Almond suite of the school’s building to accommodate the CDT department. This includes structural works and relocation of equipment.
Answering questions from councillors, Siobhan McGarty, the Head of Secondary Education told the Executive that the school had acted quickly to inform pupils and parents about the changes, with support staff working with children with additional needs.
The report to the Executive added: “The council has been faced with very challenging circumstances and needs to find the most efficient and timeos way of progressing with urgent works to ensure continuity of education at St Kentigern’s Academy.
“A further report on St Kentigern’s Academy will be provided to Council Executive before the summer recess considering options for the longer term.”
Mrs McGarty assured councillors that a full programme was in place to ensure that exams were not disrupted. Plans are also in place for the start of the new term in August.
Councillor Andrew McGuire, who chairs the Education policy Development and Scrutiny Panel, told the meeting: “I would like to assure parents/carers of St Kent’s pupils that the safety of our young people is our top priority, and any works being carried out present no risk to pupils or staff.
“It’s unfortunate that the expanded scale and scope of the investigation work means more of the school will require to be closed to allow this to be safely carried out. This now covers all the areas with RAAC panels, so we do not expect any further closures of any more parts of the school.
“The £1.2 million investment agreed by Council Executive will provide additional space through temporary accommodation and relocate specialist CDT facilities to minimise the educational impact of the works.
“This has been hugely challenging for council officers, and I’d like to thank everyone who has been involved in this from our Property team, staff at St Kent’s and the central Education team, as they have all worked tirelessly and pulled out all stops to deliver all this at short notice.
“With exams now ongoing, this is the best option available to keep the school open and limit disruption to pupils.”
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