PARENTS of pupils at a Wirral special needs school are hoping their summer of anguish will come to an end tonight as councillors decide whether the facility should be closed.

The future of the Lyndale School will be decided when Wirral’s ruling cabinet meets today, Thursday.

A consultation into the closure of the Eastham school was launched after the authority announced it was “minded” to close Lyndale, citing a drop in pupil numbers and a change in Government funding.

But parents of pupils attending the school have been left confused by the report to tonight's special cabinet meeting and are now unsure whether the uncertainty over the childrens’ future will come to an end or indeed continue.

Dawn Hughes, whose 11-year-old daughter Ellie is one of those who relies heavily on the excellent care and support given by staff and governors at Lyndale, told the Globe she and fellow parents were unsure what the cabinet report was recommending.

The report states: “In January 2014 cabinet agreed to undertake a consultation on the closure of the Lyndale School, the consultation closed in June 2014.

“This report recommends the cabinet considers the contents of the report and makes a decision on this matter.”

Dawn said: “We are all a bit confused because we feel that all the way through the council has been pushing the idea of Lyndale closing and children going to Elleray Park and Stanley School and we thought that was what the recommendation would be.

“We will just have to wait until the decision and see what happens then but in the meantime we are still fighting our corner to keep the school open.”

The report to cabinet sets out various options and variations on three main themes – keeping Lyndale open, closing it or changing it to an academy.

It also refers to responses received during the 12-week consultation and the heartfelt pleas of parents who see the school as an extension of their home are also included.

It had been thought that tonight's meeting would finally put an end to what has been described by opposition councillors as “uncertainty being suffered” by parents, but Dawn told the Globe the published report has left them with doubts.

She said: “We don’t know whether this is coming to an end or whether there is going to be more to come.”

Councillor Phil Gilchrist, leader of Wirral’s Lib Dems, criticised the cabinet report and said: “This paperwork goes on about numbers, viability and economies of scale.

“It should be about the children, children with the greatest needs, needs that deserve proper provision.”

Opposition councillors have also rallied to support Lyndale and called on the cabinet to keep the school open.

Wallasey Conservative Cllr Paul Hayes said: “I call upon all cabinet members to read the responses to the consultation in full and then consider if they can really afflict the closure of this school upon some of the most vulnerable families in our borough.

“The parent's, pupils and staff have endured a summer of anguish, I hope that when the cabinet has its meeting on Thursday this anguish will end and the council will keep the school open.”

Julia Hassall, Wirral’s director of children’s services, has defended the report, stating its purpose is to “present the results of the consultation process” and to “evaluate the options that are available”.

She said: “Elected members will review these options and make a decision which takes into account the feedback that has been received during the consultation.

“This has been a long and challenging process and I would like to thank all those who have been involved and who have contributed.”

Wirral's ruling cabinet will meet at Wallasey town hall at 6.15pm to discuss the future of Lyndale.

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WIRRAL Council has been blasted for its "childish" handling of a petition backing a special needs school after thousands of signatures were "disregarded".

Parents of pupils at the Lyndale School spent months collecting almost 10,700 signatures from those wanting to keep the facility open.

But the report to Thursday’s cabinet meeting has slashed the number of eligible signatures - 2,580 of which are said to be “duplicates, illegible or un-named, missing or non-existent addresses” and 3,178 from residents outside Wirral.

A breakdown of the remaining 4,935 signatures has been included, showing entries per ward.

Parent Dawn Hughes told the Globe: “We knew that the petition was never going to be officially accepted because according to the council’s petition rules if they are doing a consultation about a school they see that as the consultation for the public to get their point of view across.

“But we decided to do it as an indication of the support that was behind us and the strength of feeling.”

Referring to signatures that had been deemed illegible, Dawn said: “A lot of people might not be able to write more than their name which is quite insulting as they should be able to be heard as well.

“It’s a bit childish of the council and a lot of people took a lot of time to collect those petitions.

“Just because it doesn’t fit in with the council’s recommendations doesn’t go to say that it doesn’t mean anything.”

A spokesman for Wirral Council said: “The breakdown of the petition responses by ward is provided for councillors’ reference, to ensure transparency.”

DO you think Lyndale should remain open? Contact your local councillor here to let them know.