A BOARD of governors will be appointed to Port Talbot's newest school 18 months before it is due to open.

Education chiefs are to replace Tirmorfa and Glanymor schools in Sandfields with a new school as part of its school improvement programme.

In December the Welsh Government announced a grant of more than £90 million to put the programme into action.

The new school, to be built on the Glanymor site, now has the temporary name of Ysgol Newydd (Sandfields). It is due to become operational on September 1, 2013, and will cater for children aged 3 to 11.

Head of support services and commissioning development Andrew Thomas said: "The process of establishing a new school requires the authority to make arrangements for the constitution of a temporary governing body to conduct the business for the new school prior to setting up the school's permanent governing body.

"The temporary governing body is only empowered to make decisions about the new school.

"All decisions about the current two primary schools, until they close, will remain the responsibility of the existing governing bodies for those schools."

Tirmorfa and Glanymor have nominated people to sit on the temporary governing body.

Mr Thomas added: "Where two or more schools are to be discontinued and the registered pupils at those schools are to transfer to a new school, the head teachers of the discontinued schools are entitled to attend any meetings of the temporary governing body until such time as the head teacher for the new school is appointed."