AS a parent with daughters at Leaden Hall School (LH) I am still reeling at the shock announcement made on February 25 that it was to merge with Salisbury Cathedral School (SCS).

The merger sees the loss of a unique singlesex girls’ prep school that has been part of the community for 70 years.

LH’s incredible teachers have provided an extraordinary education to numerous young girls, many of whom are now successful women in our community.

I have been shocked to learn that LH was solvent and that as late as March 16, the chairman of governors was clear to parents that the school would have remained solvent, had the Dean renewed the lease.

We have learned the Dean attempted to merge the two schools five years ago and we know she attempted to move SCS out of the Bishop’s Palace last summer as part of the cathedral’s 47-page draft master plan and subsequently resigned as chair of SCS under scrutiny for conflict of interest.

We also know that last summer she asked SCS if they could make use of the LH site should it become available, and subsequently refused the renewal of the lease to LH without giving a reason.

LH governors insist her actions forced them into a corner where negotiating a takeover by SCS was the only option. This is a tragic situation and an avoidable one.

I understand that one of the laws governing charities is that one cannot benefit at the expense of another.

The Dean has moved forward with her master plan and we have lost our outstanding school.

It’s a crying shame.

We are watching too many extraordinarily talented teachers and staff lose their jobs.

No other school produces such an exemplary number of girls fit for grammar level secondary education.

This school would be 80 next year. I wonder if there is someone out there with the position, influence and conscience to recover Leaden Hall School.

Karen Scott Salisbury