Pupils caught in municipal crossfire

The parents of five boys attending the lower-secondary school við Løkin in Runavík have been left clueless about their sons’ future at the school.

Neither the boys nor the parents know whether the boys will be allowed to continue at the school or whether today is their final day there.

The reason is a dispute between Eystur Municipality and Runavík Municipality about payment for the boys’ schooling.

Poul Nolsøe Sørensen from Gøta, which together with Leirvík forms Eystur Municipality, is the father of one of the five boys attending the school in Runavík.

“The Runavík school’s curriculum includes football, and some of his former primary-school classmates decided to go there. Those were the reasons why he picked the school in Runavík rather than the one in Fuglafjørður,” he said.

Refuses to pay

Eystur Municipality has a school arrangement with Fuglafjørður Municipality, and it refuses to pay for pupils attending schools outside of these two municipalities, says Jóhan Christiansen, the Mayor of Eystur Municipality.

The Mayor of Runavík, Torbjørn Jacobsen, recently wrote in a letter to the mayor of Eystur Municipality that if payment for the five boys’ schooling is not received today at the latest, today is their final day at the school.

KVF has requested a further comment from Mayor Jacobsen.

The school við Løkin in Runavík will close for the summer holidays on 26 June.

Translated by prosa.fo