The Government has agreed to re-evaluate the scoring that was used to determine whether West End Primary School should close, the Premier has revealed.

David Burt, along with Diallo Rabain, the Minister of Education, braved a 200-strong crowd made up predominantly of education stakeholders opposed to the Government’s plan to close the school.

However, members of the West End Warriors, a campaign group formed to oppose the closure, said that different individuals should be part of the re-evaluation team and that the committee should include their members — a request that was denied.

Mr Burt said: “A suggestion was put forward by the West End Warriors for the Government to re-evaluate the scoring of the Sandys area, which the Government agreed to consider. But what we wanted to ensure is that after any rescoring, we could move forward to address the wider issues of the new parish primary school.”

Mr Rabain added: “I am encouraged that there appears to be some acceptance of the ministry’s suggestion around re-evaluation.”

Mr Rabain said he was hopeful that the agreement would not delay the conversion of Sandys Secondary Middle School into a signature school.

“Decisions around what happens in Sandys are tied together with other things happening in education reform, and they have an impact on what happens in other parishes,“ he said.

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At the start of the meeting, Ellen-Kate Horton, a former Permanent Secretary of Education and member of the West End Warriors, asked those in support of the campaign group to stand, and the vast majority rose.

Glenn Bascome, a veteran educator, warned that the issue could decide the outcome of the next election.

Dr Bascome said: “The Government needs to be seen to be doing something for the majority of the population and righting some of the historical wrongs. We don’t want to cause a whole lot of grief for everybody at the next election.”

Mr Burt responded: “I am not immune to the impact that these decisions have. The political realities are not lost on me.”

He stressed that the meeting, held at the school last night, was the third meeting that he and Mr Rabain had held with the West End Warriors, adding: “We are here due to our continued commitment to open and productive dialogue regarding the sites and the future of a parish primary school in Sandys.”

Dr Bascome, who said a national committee should have been formed to decide the criteria for closures, added: “Along the way, public service is fraught with decision-making — it is not always easy.

“However, it is made easier when those who are impacted by decisions are involved in the process from inception. We would like to see a little more participatory democracy.

"No matter what we do in terms of education reform, we must come up with a relevant and rigorous curriculum along with quality teaching. Everything else doesn't really matter.“

Wayne Perinchief, who described himself as a previous member of the Progressive Labour Party, offered the Premier and the education minister some advice: “If you are in a hole, stop digging.”

After applause from the crowd, he continued: “You are trying to build a school for the Somerset parish. They are expressing their concern. All of these people in a pragmatic way, you have to consider, are voters — that is a no-brainer.”

West End Primary School, founded in 1869, was one of the first schools in Bermuda to provide education to Black pupils during the time of racially segregated schooling on the island.

Its closure in favour of Somerset Primary School was announced in 2021 as part of sweeping public education reforms.

Saving the school from closure has been a long-haul campaign for the West End Warriors, which has submitted petitions, held a series of meetings and demonstrated with a motorcade in March.

The group also spoke out at a town hall meeting on school reforms in November that was attended by the Premier and Mr Rabain.

The reforms would leave each parish with a single primary school, with the exception of Pembroke, which would have two.

A report by the Ministry of Education in July 2021 stated that Somerset Primary School is the most appropriate site for the parish primary school in Sandys Parish.

It said: “Somerset Primary School achieved a higher score in four of the weighted study factors categories.

“The school site has a larger available acreage and capacity for development expansion to accommodate up to 300 students and staff.

“It also has a large playing field that has sufficient outdoor space and a preschool located on its site.”

In an interview last month, Ms Horton, the former permanent secretary, said that the difference between the schools was minimal enough for there to be grounds for a review of the decision.

She said at the time: “As we see it, they have five percentage points that separate the two schools.

“We feel the history and legacy of West End cannot become something that they simply write down in a book. There is nothing like the living history of a school that has served this community for 153 years.”