Foundation stone for new Anderson High unveiled
Ryan Taylor
Education Secretary Angela Constance has unveiled the foundation stone for the new Anderson High School, marking a gathering of pace in the council’s flagship project.
The minister revealed the stone, which will form part of a “memory cairn” made up of rocks gathered by pupils from all around the isles, at a special ceremony.
The new four-storey school, described as a “like for like” replacement of the old building at the Knab, will accommodate up to 1,180 pupils. It will cost £42.01 million, while the new hall of residence will should come in at £13.74 million.
Two thirds of the funding is coming from the Scottish government, through Scottish Futures Trust.
Speaking before the unveiling of the foundation stone, political leader Gary Robinson said a lot of hard work had been done to get to this stage.
“I think a lot of people, myself included, wondered if we would ever see this day,” he said.
Speaking after the ceremony, chairwoman of education and families, Vaila Wishart added: “It was good to see so many young pupils there today looking forward to the day the school opens.
“I’d like to thank the cabinet minister for coming up to do the honours, and am very pleased to see the progress that is being made on our new school.”
• For full story, see tomorrow’s Shetland Times
John Tulloch
It seems the SIC will pay for it’s £19 million share of the cost of this new school by instalments over 25 years – from its REVENUE BUDGET!?!
Funny, it seems like only five minutes since we were told, emphatically, that where capital and revenue budgets are concerned – like east and west – “ne’er the twain shall meet!”?
Ah, of course, … that was when we wanted to use capital money to assist revenue spending…but…seemingly…it’s … ok to do it the other way round?
So which cuts in revenue spending will be necessary in order to fund this “capital” expenditure?
Rural schools, perhaps?