Pupils to be taught in council offices after building work delays in Tipton
Dozens of pupils will have to be taught in council offices for up to a year due to a delay in building work at their new school.
Sacred Heart Primary School in Tipton plans to move to a new site in May but in the meantime 60 youngsters will be schooled in a temporary base.
Delays to its new base off Dudley Road East mean the pupils will be housed in the Grade II listed Carnegie Building from September 1 to August 2017.
The proposals for a change of office use have been submitted to planners at Sandwell Council.
The school's current site, on Victoria Road, cannot support the number of new pupils it has taken on which is why it requires additional teaching space at Carnegie Building.
It is now taking on an extra 60 pupils each September in reception classes, and will aim to move to its new premises by May 2017, expanding to 420 places in total.
While the move to expand school places has been welcomed, concerns have been raised about parking issues that could arise at the new site.
Councillor Ian Jones, for Tipton Green ward, said: "Residents in Mayfair Gardens are already complaining about traffic and that there has been no parking.
"The parking situation will get worse with the new school being built.
"We will need to address the concerns of residents. The new school will make the situation worse because parents are parking when dropping off their children.
"More plans will need to put forward to address the parking concerns."
Fellow ward Councillor Ahmadul Haque MBE said parking is an issue but it will get sorted out over time.
"I believe the expansion of the school is a good decision. It is providing school places for children in the area," he said.
"The parking issue will be sorted out.
"We need to build new school facilities for our future generations.
"This will be an investment in the people that will be the future of our country."
The school will use the Carnegie Building for a maximum of 60 pupils and seven full time members of staff.
It will be split into two classes of 30 children, and it has been proposed pupils aged eight to 11-years-old will be taught there.
The move will help the functioning of the school through the academic year 2016/17.
Sandwell Council has said, to minimise safety concerns involving traffic movement, the school does not propose any staff or visitor to park on site.
