School extension project has crawled ‘at a snail’s pace’

FIRST earmarked for an extension over 15 years ago, a Lucan school has seen the project “crawl at a snail’s pace” which has left the facility overcrowded and suffering from leaky roofs.

Lucan Community College also saw a design team appointed in 2011 but the project has been on hold since, which includes plans for a special needs unit.

Demand is high for school places at LCC. Last year the school received 465 applications for 1st year with only 168 places on offer, according to Leyla Simsek, Chairperson of Lucan Community College Parents Association.

“Demand for places far outstrips the places available,” said Ms Simsek.

“The building environment does not align with the high standard of education currently being provided in terms of quality, capacity and the ability to cater for all students with a diverse range of needs.

Many parents of children with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) have had to seek help outside of the local area and away from siblings already enrolled in the school due to the lack of a special needs unit. ” said Simsek.

Students at LCC launched a postcard campaign requesting guarantees from Education Minister Norma Foley that their school will finally get its long-awaited extension.

This follows an online campaign by the Parents Association that has received 1,400 signatures to date.

In April, Foley announced plans for the rollout of the next phase of the department’s school building programme.

Close to 90 school building projects currently at the tender stage will be authorised to proceed to construction throughout 2024 and early 2025.

LCC believes it meets all the criteria to proceed to construction, but the parents and students are concerned about the ongoing lack of certainty.

“Our Parents Association set up an online campaign calling for decisive action by the Minister in early March and to date this has received over 1,400 signatures,” said Ms Simsek.

“In March we also met with local councillors and TDs to ensure collective support for Lucan Community College.

Since this time several council motions, Oireachtas PQs and Topical Issues have been raised on behalf of the school.

“Given the multitude of PQs over the past 15 years and promises from various Ministers, parents are keen to understand the Minister’s commitment and whether they will contribute to the realisation of the school build.”

Other critical aspects of the new works to resolve historical issues include a new gym hall, larger canteen, larger school entrance, additional car park spaces, dedicated drama and music space, reinstatement of the Jack Harte library, outdoor hard court, new general and specialist classes and replacement of the leaking roof.

The parent’s association say the school has had to fight to progress at each stage of the planning process.

“Even though a design team was appointed as early as 2011, the project has seen various delays, with no clear reasons being given.

At various times the design team working with the building team in Dublin and Dun Laoghaire Education and Training Board, made submissions to the Dept and had to wait for months and longer for a response.

The Dept have a huge workload regarding school buildings to manage, but our project never seemed to reach the top of the list of priorities,” said Simsek.

“Through the postcard campaign and the petition, our students, parents and elected representatives have been highlighting the absolute necessity that LCC gets its extension over the line.

Now that we are finally on the shortlist, it is surely time that we have some champions within the relevant decision-making bodies to ensure that this project is brought to full completion and without further delay.”