by Ian Clifford
Parents have voted by over 2 to 1 in favour of Parkwood School becoming an Academy, but on a low turnout.
Returns from the Electoral Reform Services showed that 199 parents voted yes (70.5% of the vote), while 83 voted no – 29.4%. The turnout was 23.9%.
Parents of Parkwood pupils and those with pupils at feeder primary schools (including Pye Bank) were given a vote on the Academy proposal by the Liberal-Democrat administration.
In his letter to parents announcing the result, headteacher Chris Mallabnd says,
“This isn't the end of the consultation process – in fact it is more like the beginning. I expect that parents, students and local people still have plenty of questions, issues , concerns and ideas about the Academy project. There will be plenty of chances to express these and to have a real influence on how the project develops in the coming weeks and months.”
The letter confirming the result, from the Electoral Reform Society, is available on our Parkwood – Academy proposal pages: https://archive.burngreavemessenger.org.uk/community/parkwood-academy-proposals/