Parents invited to attend public meeting on schools review

A public meeting will be held this week to give worried parents in Perth and Kinross the chance to debate the next stage of the school estates shake-up.

Perth and North Perthshire SNP MP Pete Wishart has called for talks with families who are concerned about the future of their local schools.

Primaries at Cleish, Grandtully, Logierait and Ruthvenfield, as well as Pitlochry High, are being scrutinised as part of the latest stage of the review.

The third and final phase – due to begin after summer 2019 – is expected to include schools at Balbeggie, Coupar Angus, Collace, Glendelvine, Kettins, Meigle and Stanley.

Worried parents from across the region are expected to attend the meeting at the Royal George Hotel, George Street, Perth, this Thursday from 7pm.

Speakers at the meeting, which is open to all, include Andy Charlton, parent council chairman at Pitlochry High School, and the Rev Hunter Farquharson, provost of St Ninian’s Cathedral. Mr Farquharson was previously involved in the successful campaign to save St Ninian’s Episcopal Primary School from closure.

Mr Wishart said: “I have been contacted by a number of concerned parents and I thought it would be useful to get together to share information on how to best respond to the school estate transformation review.”

“Whilst good local campaigns can be important to save a school, it is a good idea for parent councils and other interested parties to share ideas in advance of the consultation exercise and I am more than happy to facilitate this.”

The review began in 2016, when councillors were asked to approve a set of principles to determine which schools would be scrutinised.

It looked at any building graded C or under, as well as any school which is likely to exceed 95% of capacity in the next seven years.

Schools classed as “very remote” – including Glenlyon, Kenmore and Kinloch Rannoch – are protected from closure.