Cllr. Emer Higgins had stated that Lucan’s children should be educated in Lucan and not bused to Kingswood to get to school. Her statement came in response to the Department of Education’s proposal to relocate Griffeen Community College to Kingswood until the school’s permanent site is built. “I brought the Minister for Education out to Griffeen Community College, in November, to see for himself the fantastic work that Rachel and her team are doing for the students there, in spite of their accommodation situation. There’s a hundred and thirty-eight students in Griffeen Community College and they are operating out of the top floor of Kishogue Community College. It’s not good enough; and I wanted the Minister to see that first-hand,” said Cllr. Emer Higgins.
“But recently, things had turned an even worse corner, and instead of going with the plan which parents and the Bord of Management put together, to have the school temporarily relocated to prefabs in the grounds of the Carline Centre while they wait for their permanent school to be built. The Department made a unilateral decision to bus the kids to Kingswood. This was not practical, not viable and simply not a solution,” explained Cllr. Emer Higgins.
“After a hugely stressful week for the parents, children and staff of Griffeen Community College I’m delighted to announce that a solution has been found. Instead of bussing these children to Kingswood, which in my view was never appropriate or practical, children will continue to be accommodated on the grounds of Kishogue Community College. Prefabs will be installed on their site to cater for five mainstream classrooms and classes will be time-tabled so that both schools will share access to specialist classrooms such as science labs. Griffeen Community College students will not be bussed outside of our community. These children will, rightly, be able to go to school locally until their new building is provided in 2022. Well done to the parents, especially Mary, Trish and Andy, the fabulous principal Rachel and Bord of Management chaired by Liona O’Toole, the Department and ETB who I worked with to resolve this issue,” Cllr. Emer Higgins
