Online videos are gaining traction for defenders of a school designated for closure, who insist that the reasoning behind the move is flawed.

The nine independently produced clips circulating on social media criticise the preference for Somerset Primary School over West End Primary by targeting practical issues from accessibility to flood risk — rather than highlighting the history and legacy of West End.

The posts are on the Facebook page Save West End School.

Janice Battersbee, a neighbour of Somerset Primary and creator of the videos, said they had been well received, with viewers “totally incredulous as to how these results came out this way”.

“The videos came out of my frustration with the Government’s schools study,” she said.

“The scoring used 19 specific factors, but the reasoning behind the scores was not adequately addressed. People are in agreement that this study needs to be revised.

“If you have experienced this neighbourhood, there is no way you could agree with the decision.”

Ms Battersbee went to work after a meeting last July in which David Burt told protesters, dubbed the West End Warriors, that the school would be included in a re-evaluation of the scoring.

The decision to shutter West End Primary under islandwide public education reforms has pitted the Progressive Labour Party government against residents of a Somerset neighbourhood that typically leans in support of the PLP.

The 2017 commitment to reforms, which resulted in Plan 2022, entails closures to leave each parish with a single primary school, with the exception of Pembroke, which would have two.

West End Primary’s long history as a traditionally Black school adds to its popularity as a focal point of the neighbourhood, while Somerset Primary was known as “the White school” under segregation.

Under the assessment, Somerset Primary came ahead at 61.66 per cent, compared with 55.88 per cent for West End Primary.

Ms Battersbee, who has lived by Somerset Primary for 26 years, also attended West End Primary, along with three siblings. Her mother taught at the school for almost 40 years.

“I have experienced them, and I can see it all from where I live,” she said. “It was totally ludicrous for anyone to give those scores.”

She said she saw first-hand problems with Somerset Primary from traffic congestion to damage to a retaining wall from an adjoining tree.

Ms Battersbee added that she had repeatedly cleaned leaves and debris from the road herself.

“Cars can’t pass properly, and pedestrians walk out in the road because of it. This Government has cleaned my street twice in two years.”

She added that she “absolutely” understood the emotional pull of the school’s history, calling her campaign “not just practical — it’s personal”.

However the videos focus on selection criteria, from green field space and traffic congestion to capacities for expansion and flood risk, which she said were equally as compelling.

The West End Warriors claim education officials have withheld details about how its school selection has been conducted, while the education department maintains it has been transparent.

The pressure group made a Public Access to Information request to the ministry headquarters for records supporting the decision to close West End Primary.

The request was turned down by the ministry on the basis that no other records remained to divulge.

The group next appealed to Gitanjali Gutierrez, the Information Commissioner, to verify the ministry’s search.

In a December 2023 ruling, Ms Gutierrez upheld many of the ministry’s reasons for declining the request.

However she found the ministry’s submissions failed to show “sufficient rigour and efficiency” on several topics.

They ranged from “the presence of a preschool as a determining factor” and the calculation of Somerset Primary School’s acreage, to “weighting and consideration of physical factors related to transport, community and sustainability”, and “the location strategy team members’ details and expertise”.

The ministry gave February 9 as the deadline for compliance.

Ms Battersbee said this weekend that she had heard “nothing as yet” from the West End Warriors of any further details divulged.

“The Government just came out and said they had done a study, Somerset scored higher, and closing West End was a done deal. We are contesting that.

“We are also asking who the selectors were. My understanding is that one was a former principal of Somerset Primary.”

Asked if she was optimistic of a decision reversal, Ms Battersbee said: “We know how governments behave in election years, and it’s sad if that would be the impetus for their changing their minds.

“However this government came into power on a platform of transparency.”

Former education permanent secretary Ellen-Kate Horton, another member of West End Warriors, said the videos had helped the community better understand the upset over West End Primary.

“We were trying to hammer home the fact that, not only was there history and legacy, but that so much of what had been done seemed to be in error.”

Ms Horton said members of the group were still questioning whether the Bermuda Government could produce the deeds showing its ownership of the Somerset Primary property — a concern raised in one of the video clips.

She highlighted flooding, a criterion in which West End Primary marginally came ahead in the assessment, but which the eighth video clip claimed was “serious” at Somerset Primary whenever there was heavy rain.

Ms Horton added: “The videos hit home with some of the arguments we put forward when we talked to Government about this at the beginning.”

She said the school was “already a hub” for the community.

“This is something you do not just throw away.”