SURPLUS secondary school places in St Helens are costing the council around £400,000 each year. Now a big review is underway to resolve this problem in a bid to improve education services and meet Government guidelines.
It costs the authority £260 for each surplus place. Currently St Helens has more than 1,500. Some spare places are necessary to cater for any pupil fluctuations.
Parr High and St Cuthbert's RC High school have the highest total (58 per cent) of surplus places in the borough and the review will centre around the two schools. Parr has 429 surplus places and St Cuthbert's 449.
Any proposals will be subject to full public consultation. The review is currently only at an early stage.
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