A council is planning to shut ‘the most modern school in Scotland’ after it reopened only last year following a £1.8million revamp.
Highland Council wants to mothball Strathconon Primary School, near Muir of Ord, Ross-shire, after the summer when its roll is predicted to fall to just one pupil.
But the decision has been branded as ‘madness’ and has been met with fury from parents and supporters, who claim the authority ‘must have known for years’ that the school roll was predicted to fall.
It was only in March 2023 that the authority put out a £1,791,662 tender for the ‘refurbishment and extension’ of the building, with the work completed last May.
The closure will now mean the sole remaining pupil, Scott McLennan, nine, will face a 24-mile round trip to his nearest school at Marybank.
His mother Mary said the authority’s decision was ‘beggar’s belief’.
She said: ‘The council must have known for years that the school roll would fall, yet still went ahead with the refurbishment.
‘Because this is a small community the children are used to their own company and the estate, the largest employer in the glen, needs the facility for any future families.’
Highland Council wants to mothball Strathconon Primary School, near Muir of Ord, Ross-shire
Mary McLennan with her son Scott at the mothballed school
She added that if it shuts ‘what has been the point of spending so much money’ on the ‘des res’ school, complete with underfloor heating, solar panels, and a state-of-the-art kitchen and dining room.
Strathconon Estates, whose director is Sofie Kirk Kristiansen, great-granddaughter of Lego founder Ole Kirk Kristiansen, contributed a ‘significant sum’ towards the work and with four positions soon to become available at the estate, it believes there is potential for more children to enrol.
There are currently four pupils at the school, but three of the children will move up to secondary after the summer.
Scottish Conservative MSP for the Highlands and Islands, Edward Mountain, described it as ‘the most modern school in Scotland’.
He said: ‘It’s madness to have spent so much money to mothball it. I have asked Highland Council to reconsider and keep this vital local school open.’
Garve and District Community Council, which has been in discussion with parents, has also called for the school to be kept open.
It said: ‘Marybank, Scatwell and Strathconon Community Council have also kept us updated and are amazed that The Highland Council invested considerable resources in the lengthy and thorough renovation of the school, which was reopened only in the spring and are now facing the possibility of mothballing.’
Highland Council said it had decided to mothball the school from the summer as the roll was expected to drop to one pupil, with no primary one enrolments expected for August.
A spokesman said the authority ‘considers there are educational disadvantages to being the sole pupil in a school’.
But he said the council will ‘continue to monitor the situation’, and up to May 1 will ‘review the decision to mothball should there be appointments to the estate that result in more school-age children within the school’s catchment area’.
Parents have now organised a public meeting on January 24 in an effort to save the school.
