'Devastating news': Cork primary school will not get second special education class

The board of management at a Cork primary school has said it is “devastating news” that the school will not now be given a second special education class and, as a result, the option of a purpose-built modular building to accommodate special education classes “is no longer available”.

Last November, Brooklodge National School in Glanmire was given a commitment it would receive funding for a second class for children who have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Pádraig O’Sullivan, Fianna Fáil TD for Cork North Central, told The Echo the school had also been sanctioned a purpose-made modular building allowing both classes accommodate six children each, and that this sanction had now been withdrawn.

He said the allocation had been made by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), which has statutory responsibility for planning and coordinating school supports for children with special educational needs.

But a review by the Department of Education has now found additional special education spaces in other schools in the area.

This means Brooklodge NS will not now have a second special class and, as a result, will not now receive the modular building.

Mr O’Sullivan has called on Education Minister Norma Foley to honour the commitment that was given last year, and said he was deeply concerned by the development.

“That the NCSE has sanctioned a number of these classes right across the county and the country and for the Department of Education to now come in after a review and say that they’re no longer required is simply unacceptable,” he said.

“It’s particularly unacceptable because schools have advertised in good faith that these classes were coming, and in many cases they’ve enrolled children for the coming September, and now those kids face the unknown of whether they will have a special class or not.

“I’ve spoken with both the Tánaiste and the Minister for Education, and the minister has assured me that there will be ASD spaces available for all affected children,” Mr O’Sullivan said.

“The difficulty I have is Brooklodge was initially earmarked as the site for a modular ASD class, and at this time I am working to ensure that is reinstated.”

A Department of Education spokesperson said the NCSE had advised the Department of Education that it had sanctioned two additional special classes at primary level in the local school planning area, on top of the current nine special classes, one of which existing classes is in Brooklodge NS. The spokesperson said the NCSE would continue to monitor need in the area and was engaging with schools in the area to ensure there were sufficient places.

“Whilst schools with available accommodation are being engaged with, the need for additional classes in schools like Brooklodge NS remains an ongoing consideration,” they said. 

“As the demand for placement at local level is being verified, both for students new to education and for those within existing mainstream classes, NCSE will be in contact with all relevant schools.”

The spokesperson said parents seeking special class placements for their children were advised to contact the NCSE locally “so that their needs can be taken into account for planning purposes”.

Labour Party councillor for Cork City North East John Maher said it was imperative that the new Minister of State with responsibility for Special Education Hildegard Naughton visit Brooklodge NS “as a matter of urgency”.

“Minister Hildegarde Naughton has a wonderful opportunity to begin her tenure in her department by taking effective and swift action to respond to the needs of Brooklodge,” Mr Maher said, adding that anything less would be “simply not acceptable”.