THE proposal to close St Sampson’s Infants appears to have been carried by just one vote. Of the five Education board members that decided the recommendation for its future, three have confirmed they voted for it to shut – Deputies Carol Steere, Allister Langlois and Mike Collins.

But Deputy David De Lisle opposed that decision and Deputy Matt Fallaize yesterday declined to comment, apparently keen to hold fire until it comes up for debate. However, the vote is understood to have been 3-2.  And the future of St Andrew’s is, to a degree, still uncertain with Education’s report on the primary sector leaving open the option of an amendment to close it should States members wish to debate the issue.

In confirming that he opposed Education’s decision, board member Deputy De Lisle said there was no educational reason to close St Sampson’s Infants.

‘The only issue was cost – the £250,000 in alleged savings,’ he said. ‘In reality, the savings are minimal as most of the costs are staff costs and the staff are to be redeployed elsewhere in the system. Children’s education should not be compromised to save such a small part of expenditure – it’s criminal. This amount and more will be required in additional spending in the schools taking on these students in future.’