SEND school expansion cost put at £4m - council

The council has approved £3.87m from its capital budget to fund the expansion

The planned expansion of a Wolverhampton school for pupils with special educational needs (SEND) is expected to cost £4m, the city council said.

The number of places at Green Park School in Green Park Road, Bilston could rise from 27 to 174 by 2027 under the proposal.

A public consultation was held over the summer and the council has approved £3.87m from its capital budget to fund the expansion, as well as £180,000 for an extension to adjoining Stowlawn Primary School.

The money is from unallocated funds in the authority's budget for expanding SEND places – which currently stands at £7.7m.

The consultation supported expanding the school, with the council receiving 88 responses, 76, 86% being in favour of the plans.

A further public consultation over the expansion would start in January, the council said.

The extension would see three new classrooms – a rebound room, sensory room, sensory pod and reflection room – as well as a modular building to accommodate an increase in staff.

Extra parking spaces would also be built.

A staff office and pastoral room at Stowlawn would also be used by Green Park with an extension built at Stowlawn for a new meeting room.

Many comments said the school was "outstanding" and "invaluable" and the work was warranted as the demand for special school places was ever-increasing.

Some responses raised concerns about extra traffic and funding for both the school and other services, such as speech and language therapy and physiotherapy.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.