Deeside AM tells Education Minister Huw Lewis ‘face to face’ he wants John Summers to stay open

Alyn and Deeside AM Carl Sargeant met campaigners battling to keep John Summers High School open for an update.

Mr Sargeant met a core team of campaigners at the school on Friday to discuss the latest situation further to a meeting they had on campus in September.

The AM has been in touch with campaigners since June 2015 when a public meeting to discuss closure plans was held by Flintshire Council. Since then Mr Sargeant and the campaigners have submitted official objections to the consultation in July and to the statutory notice to close the school in November.

All the objections received by the council have been passed to Education Minister Huw Lewis AM who will determine whether the consultation has been carried out properly by the authority and whether the school will close.

Following Friday’s meeting, Carl Sargeant said:

“It was really good to meet with the parents and concerned residents against the closure of John Summers High School once again and see that the vigour of their campaigning has not diminished at all.

“I was also able to give the campaigners some practical pointers in terms of investigating specific concerns they have about the way the consultation took place.

“I reassured them that I have told Education Minister Huw Lewis AM face to face about our concerns and how we want him to keep the school open. I have since written to him asking him to confirm a timeline of his actions and when a decision is likely to happen.

“The campaigners know I will keep them informed if I hear of when we can expect a decision. The campaigners and I have done what really counts for the process – which was to get our official objections in.”