Closure of Cork special school must be 'catalyst for necessary change'

Carrigaline Community Special School remains closed this week, with the school’s patron, Cork Education and Training Board (ETB), telling parents that it needs to 'work through a number of issues' at the school. Picture: Chani Anderson

The closure of special school in Cork this week, previously highlighted for its "alarming” pattern of suspensions, must be a “watershed moment” and a “catalyst for the necessary change”, local TDs have warned.

Carrigaline Community Special School remains closed this week, with the school’s patron, Cork Education and Training Board (ETB), telling parents that it needs to “work through a number of issues” at the school.

The school, which is in the Taoiseach’s constituency, is expected to reopen on March 9 following an incident on February 26 in which staff sustained injuries.

Fianna Fáil TD for Cork South Central, Seamus McGrath, said the closure of the school for over a week is “extremely serious” and has a huge impact on students, parents and staff.

“This has to be a watershed moment. The Department of Education and Cork ETB must ensure that an immediate plan is put in place to address all the issues,” Mr McGrath said.

“The school must have adequate resources in terms of staffing levels, a management team, and support therapists. This very unfortunate closure must be a catalyst for the necessary change.” 

Sinn Féin TD for Cork South Central Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire said it was “really worrying” that issues at the school have continued.

“It is extremely rare for a school to close in this manner and it is naturally the children who lose out most of all. For many of these children, routine is key and right now they don’t have that. 

"I am calling on the Department of Education and the ETB to do whatever is possible to get the school open and in a sustainable way, and if that means additional staff and resources are needed, the school needs to get it.”

“It needs to be open, but it’s no good opening Monday to close again in a few days, so it needs to be sustainable. These children deserve to have their constitutional right to education vindicated.”

Last October, Mr Ó Laoghaire told the Dáil that many issues had arisen at the school due to staff turnover “but also because of the lack of respite and therapies due to it being an ETB school". 

“A child who does not have access to adequate therapies will potentially be dysregulated, not reach his or her full potential, and find the experience difficult,” he said.

Carrigaline Community Special School was previously highlighted for its 'alarming' pattern of suspensions. Picture: Chani Anderson

“The teachers are then under pressure because the child is dysregulated, leading to a knock-on impact in terms of burnout. 

"That has an impact on parents, who are frustrated and see turnover. Those parents are not being supported by adequate respite and have to fight for everything. The situation there is not good enough.” 

A spokesperson for special education minister Michael Moynihan said he is happy to meet with parents to discuss the issues and concerns. 

A spokesperson for Cork ETB said: "Cork ETB has introduced a number of measures in particular to support the in-school leadership team in the school and will continue to work with the Department of Education and Youth and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) to consider what additional supports may be necessary to support the school."

The spokesperson added: "Due to the sensitive nature of the situation, and out of respect for the privacy and wellbeing of those involved, we will not be providing further detail at this time."

It is "fully committed to ensuring the highest possible standards of safety, care, and support across all our schools and centres".

A spokesperson for the Department of Education said it is aware of an incident at the school last Thursday but does not comment on individual cases. 

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The department and the NCSE is in "continuing engagement" with Cork ETB since the incident last week which "builds on close engagement over recent months on a range of measures to support the school".

The school will be availing of further whole-school training with the NCSE in the next number of weeks. It has been granted an additional supernumerary teacher and an additional special needs assistant (SNA) based on identified needs in the school.

"An additional teaching post and two SNA posts to support the school is also being sanctioned for the remainder of this school year. These additional staff will assist with providing a consistent staffing in the school in the event of any staff absences."