A Powys village school with just seven pupils is to close, council officials today revealed. Llanfihangel Primary School, near Llanfyllin, will shut its doors for the last time on December 18.
Governors said the decision to close the school, which caters for children aged four to 11, had been an “extremely difficult” and “painful” one to make.
Emryr Jones, chairman of school governors, said: “This is a sad day for the school and for the community of Llanfihangel.
“It’s been a very difficult decision to make and one that we didn’t take lightly.
“We had no other choice because we were pushed into a corner. If we didn’t decide to close it the council would have made the decision to close it for us.
“So very reluctantly we have come to the conclusion that, however dear our school is to us, the children of Llanfihangel would probably have a better educational and social experience were they to be educated at a larger school, albeit in a different village.”
Councillor David Jones, portfolio holder for schools and inclusion at Powys County Council, said it was costing the council £23,181 per pupil to keep open and it had been proposed the school close earlier, but it had been reprieved.
He said: “It was proposed that the school would close with effect from August 31, 2008 and the pupils would transfer to Ysgol Pontrobert.
“But the authority decided to undertake further consultation with the community.”
He said the remaining pupils would transfer to either Llanfyllin or Pontrobert primary schools.
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