FOUR primary schools face closure under plans by Edinburgh City Council to save money.
Burdiehouse, Fort, Royston and Drumbrae primaries could be axed by next summer in a bid to save £1 million a year.
The cuts will come from staff and running costs and the council hopes to make £2.4m by selling the land the schools are on.
The c
ouncil claims the cuts are necessary as there are 8,600 empty places in the city's primaries, forcing it to maintain schools operating well below capacity.
Council officials are recommending the four schools should be closed as they are only between 33 and 41 per cent full.
A report to the council's education, children and families committee on 16 June will recommend consultation on the potential closures start in August.
Marilyne MacLaren, education spokeswoman for the council, said: "We must be sure that our schools are well equipped, well staffed, full of pupils and that they offer the best value for money.
"The money that the government gives us for education is linked directly to the number of pupils in the city - this means that it costs us much more to run schools that aren't full."
If the closures are agreed, any money made from the sale of the sites of former schools should be reinvested in the schools estate, according to the report.
That money could go towards building new nursery schools at Gracemount and Clermiston primaries and expanding Granton Primary School Nursery.
In August 2007, The Scotsman revealed the council's plan to close 22 schools and nurseries in a bid to fill a £10 million black hole.
However, mass protests by parents and withdrawal of support from the SNP junior coalition partners, forced the council to withdraw the plans.
Critics had accused the local authority of social engineering as most of the schools on the hitlist were in deprived areas.
Last August, the council produced watered-down proposals suggesting Westburn, Bonnington and Lismore primaries should close.
Bonnington and Lismore subsequently closed at Christmas, and Westburn will shut before the school holidays.
Three major reviews of the schools estate by the local authority over the past decade have seen the number of schools reduce from 103 to 91.
Pupil numbers since 2007 have dropped by nearly 6,000 pupils, 19 per cent, in the state sector in the capital.
The council says pupils from the closed schools would be offered places at another school near where they live.
Those from Burdiehouse would be given places at Gracemount or Gilmerton; those at Fort would go Trinity and those from Royston would go to Granton or Forthview.
Pupils from Drumbrae would be offered a place at Clermiston or East Craigs.
Under legislation, parents are entitled to apply for their child to attend any school, with available places.
It is proposed that the four identified primary schools should be closed in summer 2010 taking the number of council run primary schools to 87.
Parental consultation is expected to begin in August when pupils return after the summer break.
The full article contains 514 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
