SCOTTISH Education Minister Brian Wilson last night warned the chairman of Glasgow's education committee to leave politics out of school closure decisions.
The Herald yesterday revealed details of a leaked letter in which Glasgow education convener Dr Malcolm Green warned that the closure of Woodside Secondary without consultation would be ''extremely damaging to the standing of the Labour Party''.
Dr Green, whose Kelvingrove ward covers a large part of the school's catchment area, agreed to seek official advice about the appropriateness of him chairing the committee meeting which will decide the school's fate.
A special meeting of the education committee yesterday agreed to consider retaining the Woodside building at the expense of neighbouring Hillhead High. That was despite a decision by the council in February to agree to a formal proposal in principle that ''Woodside Secondary should close and pupils transfer to Hillhead''.
The Labour group agreed to reopen the issue after Dr Green sent a letter to group secretary Des McNulty warning of a political backlash if Woodside closed.
It is understood intense political pressure was also applied to the Labour group by deputy Lord Provost Alex Mosson, whose Anderston ward covers the school.
In a phone conversation with Dr Green yesterday, it is understood Mr Wilson warned that schools should not be used as political footballs. His subsequent letter said: ''It's clear to me that the soundly-based educational rationale which the council has been developing should be beyond reproach and I naturally expect Scottish Office funds to be used only in support of proposals that are based on that educational rationale.''
Dr Green pledged to consult with the council's chief executive and to consider public perceptions of propriety before chairing a meeting of the education committee in September, to decide which school is to close, to avoid a potential conflict of interest.
He said: ''Every local councillor has a duty to represent his or her local area but that doesn't outweigh the larger considerations of the community as a whole or the council as a whole and I would never allow it to do so.
''I didn't do so in that letter or in anything I said prior to the decision to consult on these two options.
''It [the letter] was designed for a very specific purpose and made a specific point. I was not thinking about electoral considerations at all.
''What I had in mind was the difficulty in justifying to people why they shouldn't even be given the opportunity for arguing in favour of the Woodside building.''
Mr Mosson said: ''I feel quite dismayed that a colleague could release that letter, which was a personal letter to the secretary of the Labour group. Now it's in the public domain, there are other people with vested interests who should not have taken part in today's vote.''
A statement issued by Hillhead High school board said: ''We do not know why this is happening, as we are unaware of any new or persuasive educational arguments, and this reversal has been carried out behind closed doors. It seems the February decision was not worth the paper it was written on.
''Naturally parents are angry. Rumours abound that this is a political decision. It cannot escape our notice that Councillor Green and Baillie Mosson are influential representatives of the Woodside area.''
Yesterday's meeting also agreed to launch formal consultations on the proposed closure of Crookston Castle Secondary with pupils transferred to Hillpark or a new Penilee Secondary at Rosshall.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article