ERROR RG P4 22.3.2000 A story in yesterday's Royal Gazette should have quoted parent Lorene Phillips saying "I am not saying St. David's is not a good school -- I am more concerned with the principle'', not the "principal''.

A popular primary school could end up closing after Government slapped a curb on new pupils, it has been warned.

Parents are to lobby Government after St. George's Preparatory School was told to revert to just one entry class.

Disappointed children now face long journeys out of the parish for lessons in September.

Parent and Teachers' Association president Carla Hopwood said: "We don't understand it.

"The Education Act says it's the parent's right to send their child to their first choice school providing there is room, but the school has told Government that there is room.'' Parents are now putting together a petition to pressure Government into a rethink.

And Ms Hopwood warned it could be devastating if Government insisted on limiting the Government-aided school to one form in the future, because funding depended on school numbers.

She said: "The school is looking at closure down the line, that's where the concern is.

"We have some of the highest literacy rates on the Island. Our kids are doing it right. St. George's was one of three schools that has above average literacy results.'' But Education Minister Milton Scott denied claims that Government had given no reason for limiting St. George's Prep to just one class of five-year-olds.

He explained Government had opted to alternate the extra class to East End Primary -- as promised last year.

And the Minister refused to be drawn on whether the extra class would revert to St. George's next year.

He said: "There are serious issues about space -- those factors come into play. There's a need to accommodate students with special needs.'' And he denied the parent's claim that the Education Act said they could get the school of their choice.

He said: "They have the opportunity to apply to the school of their choice.

But St. George's Preparatory School was last year reluctant to have an additional form of entry and had put up all sorts of terms and conditions.

"I wouldn't get personally involved unless a parent wrote to me -- but the only person who wrote to me was (UBP) Senator Kim Swan.'' And Mr. Scott downplayed concerns about the high standards St. George's Prep was setting.

East End parents warn limits may doom school He said: "I don't want to get into that in terms of performance, putting one school against another, but parents are entitled to their opinion.

"Both schools have facilities. St. George's is a little older than East End Primary School. Both will be given the chance to excel.'' Asked how he would have felt if he had his child turned down for the school of his choice, he said: "There are two schools in the East End area.'' Parent Lorene Phillips attacked the Minister's stance. She said her son was being made to travel to St. David's, even though their Wellington Back Road home is just five minute's walk from St. George's Prep.

She said: "My husband and I spent a significant time looking at schools and we were very pleased with St. George's.

"We turned down Saltus because we thought we could get just as good a quality education at St. George's.'' She said she had to wait days until her child was found a school after her second choice of Harrington Sound Primary was also ignored by the Education Department.

She said: "I am not saying St. David's is not a good school -- I am more concerned with the principal -- we weren't even given a reason.

"In four or five years there won't be enough people to keep the school open.

This is a huge concern. It's a stellar school.'' She said: "It's unacceptable. Why do I have to send my child to a school which is 15 to 20 minutes away when there is one available within a five minute walk? It makes no sense.'' She said the Board of Trustees at the school were rejected twice when they appealed to the Education Department for a change of heart over curbing the number of classes.

She said: "They ignored us. It's insulting.'' Senator Kim Swan told The Royal Gazette : "They have been told they can only accept 15 maximum P1 students in September, but they are willing to accept 30 -- in two classes.

"Parents in the St. George's area with students who would possibly come to the school hope they will reconsider.

"Apparently 28 students expressed an interest in St. George's Prep. Of the 15 who were accepted, seven had siblings already there. Eight were new students while 11 were turned away.''