| SPOTLIGHT |
Parents of pupils at an East Sussex primary school have threatened legal action to try to prevent the county council handing it to an academy chain.
They have called for “a full and meaningful consultation with a binding vote for parents” before Peacehaven Community School makes its proposed move to the Swale Academies Trust.
Campaigners said their concerns about the trust included the ability of academies to employ unqualified staff, excessive pay for senior trust staff and lack of accountability to the community.
They said the school was rated ‘good’ by regulator Ofsted in October 2018 and so there was no need for it to join a multi-academy trust.
The interim executive board should be replaced with an elected governing body, the parents added.
An East Sussex County Council spokesman said: “Swale Academies Trust has provided senior leadership at Peacehaven Community School since November 2015 and has been instrumental in enabling the school to make good progress.
“A full consultation was completed in 2017, during which the school reported to the council there was support from parents for the continued involvement of the trust.
“It remains the view of the local authority and the interim executive board that this is the right course of action to secure strong leadership and continued improvements at the school.
“The current governance arrangements at the school have been in place for some time and they have been regularly reviewed to ensure their ongoing effectiveness.”
