How can it be that a school that made it to DEIS plus status, St. Francis Junior School in Priorswood in Dublin 17, can lose a teacher at the same time, bringing the pupil-teacher ratio from 17:1 to 22:1? This cannot stand. The school was recently given DEIS plus status but the board of management, staff and parents are absolutely devastated to learn that they will lose a mainstream class teacher for the upcoming academic year. It is losing a teacher because the number of pupils on the roll book went from 166 to 165. One pupil being lost means that an entire teacher is lost. The school lodged an appeal with the primary staffing appeals board and, on 13 May, got the answer that the appeal was unsuccessful and that the decision was final. The school cannot accept that decision. That community just cannot lose a teacher for those students. The impact of losing a teacher in that area will be extremely damaging to the school community and it completely undermines the purpose of DEIS plus support. What is the point in getting a wellness teacher if you lose a mainstream class teacher? This school is one of the most deprived and disadvantaged in the entire country. It endeavours to ensure that every student who walks through the door is loved, cared for and given every support that they can get in society. They are provided with a teaching and learning environment where they can flourish. The pupil-teacher ratio for DEIS plus is 17:1 but this would bring it up to 22:1 if that teacher is removed. Many schools might be able to cope but not in an area like this, serving a community like this, with such high levels of disadvantage. Last year, this school lost a teacher too. It had to amalgamate three junior infant classes into two senior infant classes. Those students will deal with the ramifications of that for five or six years, all the way through primary school. If the school loses this teacher, it will again have to amalgamate three junior infant classes into two senior infant classes and three first classes and into two second classes. Many of the students who come to this school do not go to preschool or early years learning, unlike peers in other communities. Upon enrolling, they often do not know what learning and educational needs they have. It is vital that the pupil-teacher ratio is maintained so that those students can get the support that they need. I have been informed by the school that it has the highest enrolment for junior infant classes in the Dublin 17 area. On Friday, 15 May, it had 16 junior infant enrolments for September 2026. On Monday, 18 May, it had two more. It currently has 168 enrolments in mainstream classes, plus six new enrolments in the ASD class. That is a total of 174 children. Its enrolment has gone way beyond what it would have been when it had the teacher taken away based on September figures. I ask the Minister of State to intervene. Some 40% of the pupils in this school are from the Traveller community and the rest of the children are from extremely deprived socioeconomic backgrounds. All the staff work tirelessly but we all know the impact, as educational research shows, of adverse childhood experiences and trauma and how they affect pupils' ability to learn and flourish in society. This cannot stand and it has to be overturned.

Sentiment score: -0.12

What the Minister of State said there was lovely but it does not deal with the problem. What is the point of giving a school DEIS plus status and taking away a teacher? It makes no sense. The Minister of State needs to intervene here. This is one of the most disadvantaged areas in terms of social problems and the different minorities represented. Some 40% are from the Traveller community. This is going to hit that community in particular. There are also issues like crime, drug abuse, etc., which we all know exist in very disadvantaged working class communities. The decision does not represent the reality. That is the point. The numbers have now gone ahead for the next school year based on what was the case. I am asking the Minister of State to intervene and review the allocation for the school or to ask the Minister to do it. To show how much upset this has caused, parents in that community are going door to door. Parents in that community have enough on their plate without having to go do door to door petitioning on this. That is how much it has impacted. The parents know the importance of having that sort of supports in the school. I hope the TDs in the area will get behind this as well because it is not recognising the reality, which is that the school population has gone way over what is needed to maintain that teacher. There have to be ways in which the Minister for education can intervene to review the allocation of a school given the burning social problems the area has. It is not breaking a rule because rules and regulations that do not apply to the reality need to be challenged as well. I am asking the Minister to recognise what DEIS plus is meant to mean and to intervene here.

Sentiment score: -0.06

Maybe the school should close the ASD class.

Sentiment score: 0.00