Louth secondary schools facing ‘serious capacity issues’ while running out of room to expand
A number of Dundalk secondary schools are facing “serious capacity issues” with little space remaining on their grounds for “structured expansion,” it was claimed this week.
Concerns about the capacity of local post-primary schools were raised at the recent monthly meeting of Louth County Council by Cllr. Shane McGuinness.
The Dundalk South councillor said he had been contacted by parents “saying they cannot secure a place in any secondary school in Dundalk, for September of this year, as no places are coming available.”
He added: “The concerns that have been raised to me from teachers is that three secondary schools have serious capacity issues. Two in particular, O’Fiaich College and the De La Salle secondary schools. With the De la Salle having been allocated an extension, there is little or no room left for any children’s play space and activities if anything were to be built.
Spatial standards, I have been informed is based on projected enrolment and there isn’t any space left at these schools for any real structured expansion.”
Cllr. McGuinness said that one of the schools rented pods and other types of accommodation to allow students preparing for leaving cert to study in them.
He added that while extension allocations are welcome, “they are just a stick plaster for what is needed.”
Speaking at the recent council meeting he said: "Overcrowded schools in Dundalk are having a significant impact on student life. Stress and anxiety are on the rise with students feeling frustrated and struggling to concentrate in crowded schools and classrooms.”
Cllr. McGuinness said the situation was “leading to negative learning environments, affecting overall wellbeing and compromising the quality of education. The effects of overcrowding can be far reaching, influencing a towns workforce and future economic stability.”
He told the meeting: “For various reasons, teachers do not want to come out publicly and raise this issue as it may be perceived as bad press for their school but they have raised serious concerns to me, around capacity planning for the next number of years and what is being done to allocate a new school in particular in the Dundalk South area.”
Cllr. McGuinness said after he had reached out to the Department of Education it seemed “they are lacking in data for what is coming down the line. This seems bizarre and if we take a look at the Dundalk South area, I will envisage over the next 18 months, that about 1200 new houses are being completed with a lot started and many more passed for planning and ready to go.
He asked Louth County Council Planning Section if there is “data that sufficiently informs the education board of what’s coming down the line in the next say 18 months on family type, sizes and ages in say the Haggardstown and Blackrock area for social and private housing?”
“Secondlywhere do we think 1200 new families will be supported for primary and secondary schools in Blackrock and Haggardstown, and south of Dundalk in the coming years?
He said it was “incumbent on Louth County council and the Department of Education to work together for the wider good, and to plan and prepare meticulously on education sites and buildings, so the town of Dundalk, is not left out for future generations to come.”
Responding, Director of Service, Thomas McEvoy said schools are “entirely a matter for the Department of Education.”
He said the council are in contact with the department on weekly basis on a “series of areas around the county.”
"That contact is ongoing, and they are extremely familiar with the zonings and the policy of the County Development Plan.”
Mr. McEvoy said the council had been keeping the department informed of what opportunities they have.
"They are very familiar with this, and the data they receive from us is the same information they are getting from every other local authority in Ireland.”
He added: I can assure members that there isn’t a lack of data or a lack of effort on behalf of Louth County Council, and the only way to have this considered is through the review of the County Development Plan.”
Workshops on the new County Development Plan are set to begin in the next week, he added.