Parents go to Perth for schools decision

The local education committee were feeling rather aggrieved over their county counterparts ‘ mowing their lawn’.

“They [the local committee] heard a letter read from Mr Sharp, depute county clerk, intimating that two parents had applied to transfer their children from Fowlis Wester to Crieff. This the County Education Committee had agreed to.

“Mr Sharp explained that normally these requests were dealt with by the local committee but no decision could be made until the future of the school had been decided. As it was desirable to have a decision on which school the children should attend before the start of the session, the education committee had taken that responsibility in July.

“They hoped that the local committee would not feel offended by this action. Mr Sharp pointed out that even had the local committee refused these applications and the parents appealed to Perth, the parent’s appeal would have been upheld.”

The committee then heard that a Gilmerton resident had also applied directly to Perth to allow his child to attend Crieff rather than Monzie school - “Another one that should have come up before this committee,” was one member’s aggrieved comment.

Committee member Mr Hardie stated: “My understanding of this is that if a parent wishes his child to attend another school, the only proviso is that the parent is willing to pay the transportation costs.”