The floating of a proposal to extend co-education right up to sixth class at Holy Cross Primary School in Killarney has raised concerns at a neighbouring all-boys school, which has written to Bishop Bill Murphy about the matter.
At present, co-education at Holy Cross applies only as far as first class. Boys who leave Holy Cross after first class generally transfer down New Road to the Presentation Monastery school which has classes from second right up to sixth.
Among the fears of the Monastery School is that it could lose teachers from a reduction in pupil numbers if any change went ahead at Holy Cross, and that, ultimately, the future of the 150-year-old boys’ school could be jeopardised.
The proposal, which was first aired at a Holy Cross Board of Management meeting about a fortnight ago, has met with strong opposition from the Presentation Monastery school.
Holy Cross Board of Management Chairperson Bridget McGuire confirmed that the Board is in the preliminary stages of a process to explore the option of extending full co-education at the school.
“The process is very much exploratory,” she stressed. “We will be seeking the opinions of all the parties in due course. There is nothing concrete.”
Neither Holy Cross principal Ursula Coffery or Presentation Monastery Principal Derry Pyne were available for comment on Wednesday.
The Monastery School Board of Management has voiced its concerns in a letter to Bishop Bill Murphy who, as patron of the Killarney schools, would have the final say in any change.
Bishop Bill Murphy said this Wednesday that he knew the proposal was being discussed but any decision on his part would be ‘way down the line’.
“I’ve had no formal approach about it,” he said. “If there was any proposal, it would come from the trustees of the Mercy Sisters.”
In addition to writing to the Bishop, the Monastery Board of Management is understood to have sent a letter this week to its counterpart at Holy Cross, seeking to have the situation clarified.
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