(UK) Portsmouth: $236,000 (US) for places for more SPED kids; "This is not enough"

May 29, 2018, (UK) The Portsmouth News: Portsmouth schools given green light to expand after multi-million pound government grant: https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/education/portsmouth-schools-given-green-light-to-expand-after-multi-million-pound-government-grant-1-8514715 The MP said: ‘All parents want to send their child to a good local school, one that meets their individual needs and supports them to achieve their full potential, regardless of the challenges they may face.’ An extra £179,000 has also been awarded to improve facilities and build more school places for children with special educational needs (SEN). But Cllr Vernon-Jackson says this is not enough. ‘We have big issues with special educational need school places. ‘The Mary Rose Academy has places for 100 kids but we have an extra 188 children in the city so we need to build another two schools to accommodate everyone’, he said. The newly-elected Lib Dem leader believes two new schools specialising in those with severe learning difficulties would cost £30m. Cllr Vernon-Jackson said: ‘We will be going back to the government about it because the number of children with SEN is growing very fast.’