The Glasgow secretary of Scotland's leading teaching union EIS condemned the action against Jessie Goldie, headteacher of Kennedy Street Nursery school. She was suspended during an inquiry into the number of children on the school roll, in a case which bears superficial similarities to the 'ghost pupils' scandal which has led to the suspension of three of Glasgow's primary school headteachers in recent weeks.
The 'ghost pupils' issue arose when it was alleged that headteachers had more pupils registered as attending than were actually present, a situation which could have enabled them to claim additional funding to teach pupils who were not really there.
Mrs Goldie's situation, however, is connected to attendance figures put forward in a consultation paper by Glasgow council, which is seeking to close both Kennedy Street Nursery School and Prospecthill Nursery School.
Willie Hart, the Glasgow secretary of EIS, Mrs Goldie's union, said, 'The consultation papers were published at an education committee meeting on 15 March, and said the number attending the nursery was 18 in the morning and 21 in the afternoon, while their capacity was 40 in the morning and 40 in the afternoon.
'As one of the teacher representatives on the committee, I challenged the figures and said there were actually 27 children in the morning and 24 in the afternoon, and the capacity was 35 for both sessions, which gives a very different picture. The council checked the roll and on 21 March Mrs Goldie was suspended and it was alleged there were inconsistencies in the attendance figures.'
Mrs Goldie was suspended until the beginning of last week and she is now back at school, although the issue has not been fully resolved. A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said there would be a disciplinary hearing. The EIS will be defending Mrs Goldie, arguing that her suspension was erroneous and unjust.
The nursery school closures consultation paper was revised in the light of the council's checks and now says 26 children attend Kennedy Street in the morning and 24 during the afternoon. The council proposes to shut the school in June this year and either send the children to another nursery school or to replace the school with a nursery class based at a primary school. The council also proposes to shut Prospecthill Nursery School in June and send pupils either to local partnership nurseries or to another nursery school. Both consultations close at the beginning of May.
Mr Hart said, 'Our view is that if nursery classes are established as new provision, that's fine, but we are concerned that there's a trend to close nursery schools and transform them into nursery units. Historically we have had a very good nursery school service in Glasgow and it seems paradoxical that Glasgow is looking to close nursery schools when nursery education is being expanded.'
Meanwhile, two of the three heads suspended over alleged 'ghost pupils' on their registers are now back at school. The suspension of Maire Whitehead, headteacher of St Mirin's primary, has been lifted and a spokeswoman for Glasgow council said 'appropriate disciplinary action' had been taken.
Williamina McDonald, headteacher of Dowanhill primary, is also back in school although the investigation into pupil numbers there was continuing as Nursery World went to press. Lesley Dalgleish, head of Mount Florida primary, is still suspended while an investigation continues. Ms Dalgleish was the first to be suspended over alleged discrepan-cies and this prompted the council to check up on other schools.
