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‘Considerable savings’ from TN Tatem’s closure

TN Tatem Middle School in Warwick (Photograph by Owain Johnston-Barnes)

Money saved from the potential axing of TN Tatem Middle School should be reinvested in education, a One Bermuda Alliance senator said yesterday. Dwayne Robinson, the OBA Senate spokesman on education, said that the closure of the Warwick school would create “considerable savings”. He added: “These must be reinvested in better support for our teachers and giving schools the equipment they are still lacking.”The future of the closed school will be discussed at two meetings today. The Ministry of Education announced last week that a consultation process would be carried out to determine what would be done with the school. School staff were invited to a meeting today at 4pm at Bermuda College.A further meeting with parents will be held at 5.30pm. Mr Robinson said that the possible closure of the school “has seemed inevitable for some time and does not come as a surprise”. He added: “Being built on marshland has given rise to numerous and ongoing issues that both the Progressive Labour Party and OBA have grappled with.”Mr Robinson said the possible closure “offers some opportunities”. He added: “In our Budget Reply this year we said, ‘With a declining youth population, rationalisation of infrastructure will allow more funds to be dedicated towards teacher hiring and development. The Hopkins Report focused its findings on quality of teaching, reforming the ministry and strategic management’.”Mr Robinson said that more information was needed on the “master plan” for all public schools. He asked: “Given the declining school population, what are the minister’s intentions?“It is all very well having a meeting for the TN Tatem parents, but when will the minister roll out his plan to the public?”