TWO PUBLIC consultations on the future of Eskdale School will be held this week.

North Yorkshire County Council is holding two meetings to give parents a chance to ask questions and provide views on proposals to create a single 11 to 19 school for Whitby by merging Eskdale with Caedmon College.

The meetings will be held on Monday, March 14 and Tuesday, March 15 at 6.30pm at Whitby Pavilion. People are asked to just attend one, as the sessions are expected to be popular.

The proposals have so far proved controversial, with opposition from parents and many others in the Whitby community. A protest march has been held in the town and a 5,000 signature petition handed in to education bosses at County Hall.

“Schools across the country are facing greater financial pressures than ever before”, said Pete Dwyer, North Yorkshire’s corporate director of the Children and Young People’s Service.

“Most are finding solutions that protect front line teaching by working better together – we need the same to happen in Whitby.”

The proposal is to merge the leadership and governance of the two schools from September 2016, and to move from three sites to two by September 2017, by consolidating the Normanby and Scoresby sites.