COMMUNITY leaders in Beaumaris have accused Anglesey Council of “dirty tactics” after publishing the closure of the town’s school over the Christmas period.

In July the council’s executive agreed to shut Ysgol Beaumaris and refurbish Ysgol Llangoed as well as Ysgol Llandegfan, blaming falling pupil numbers on the decision to deprive the town of its only school.

If the statutory notice is adopted, from September 2020 parents in the town will be given a choice of sending their children to either of the refurbished schools.

According to Anglesey Council, “doing nothing was not an option” with Ysgol Beaumaris operating at just 28 per cent capacity with 40 pupils on the books.

A spokesman added that due to the last consultation closing on July 2, any statutory notice had to be published within 26 weeks in order to be valid.

But during a meeting of Beaumaris Town Council, members were outraged at the timing of the month-long statutory notice, which gives anyone wishing to respond unti December 27 to make their feelings known.

According to Cllr Rhian Aledwen Jones, governors are considering the possibility of legal action but the grounds of such action have not yet been made clear.

Cllr Jason Zalot, the mayor of Beaumaris, said: “I learnt of this during the Victorian Christmas weekend and was shocked to hear that the school’s headteacher was only informed of the move when she went to the county council website.

“They didn’t even have the decency to inform staff beforehand, I think this is very shoddy and is the latest in a catalogue of errors along the way.

“Further insult to injury is holding this over Christmas when everyone is busy shopping, travelling or whatever.

“Its unbelievable and smacks to me of trying to sweep the issue under the carpet. Its staggering.”

Cllr Stan Zalot added, “This are shoddy tactics, no-one wants this hanging over their head over Christmas. These are dirty tricks.

“The school is on the up, there are more pupils this year and its truly the hub of the community.”

Members, as well as setting aside £5,000 for any potential legal action, proposed that education secretary Kirsty Williams should meet a delegation from the town so they can make their feelings known.

“The minister needs to come up here, if this happens Beaumaris will be the only town in Wales without a primary school,” added Cllr Alwyn Rowlands.

“We need to get her up here to tell her and if she won’t, we’ll go down to Cardiff.

“Every effort needs to be made to cancel this statutory period until the new year, don’t spoil people’s Christmas.”

Cllr Rowlands added concerns that parents were already considering taking their children to schools over the Menai Strait in Bangor once Beaumaris has shut.

In response, an Anglesey Council spokesman said: “Any statutory notice for school reorganisation must be published within 26 weeks of the end of the consultation period, otherwise a new consultation document must be issued. The statutory consultation for Seiriol ended on July 2nd.

“The School Standards and Organisation (Wales) Act 2013 provides anyone wishing to make objections to a school organisation proposal with an opportunity to do so. To be considered as statutory objections, objections must be made in writing or by email, and sent to the County Council before the end of 28 days beginning with the day on which the notice was published.”

“In the case of Seiriol ward, the period for receiving objections is 29 days, so that the closing date does not fall on a bank holiday.”

“Consultees – including Beaumaris Town Council – were made aware of the publication of the statutory notice when published on November 28th.”

“There has no attempt to diminish the amount of objections we receive; and we would expect individuals who hold strong views about this matter to make every effort to respond.  All objections received on or before December 27th will be valid.”