Council accused of 'underhand tactics' in school closure plans

PARENTS of children at two under-threat primaries say "underhand tactics" from the council are forcing to move their children to other schools.

Bonnington, Lismore and Westburn primary schools are facing the axe under proposals revealed earlier this month. While education chiefs propose Westburn should remain open until next summer, they recommend that Bonnington and Lismore close for good at Christmas, which parents say is hitting the schools hard.

Stewart Muir, co-chairman of Bonnington's parent council, claims closing the school half-way through the year is nothing but "malicious". Although a public consultation on all the closure proposals will get under way in August, Mr Muir believes "the writing is on the wall".

He said at least ten parents – including himself – have decided to remove their children from Bonnington to avoid them having to change schools at Christmas.

Under the council's proposals, if Bonnington were to close, its pupils would either go to Leith Primary or one of the other schools in the catchment area – Lorne, Trinity, Broughton or Fort.

The two options for Lismore are either Brunstane or Niddrie Mill primaries. But parents have already been ringing round schools desperately trying to secure places for their children.

Mr Muir, whose son Brandon will go into primary three after the holidays, said: "It was a very tough decision to take, a decision I didn't want to take, but my son's education has to come first. It's going to be virtually impossible to get a good school in December and no parent wants to have to uproot their kids at Christmas when it's supposed to be a joyful time.

"I feel like I'm deserting the school, although I'm still going to help it fight as much as I can.

"It seems malicious to close it at Christmas and they're using underhand tactics to scare parents into taking their children out of school now. It's what they've wanted all along."

The school roll at Bonnington is currently 80, which is the second lowest in the city, but Mr Muir believes this will have dropped considerably by the time the new school term starts.

He added: "I think there will be less than 50 kids at the school after summer, and that's a conservative estimate."

Lismore Primary has also been hit hard since the council revealed it is facing closure for the third time in as many years.

Gail Ross, of the Lismore Parents Action Group, said the school – which currently has a roll of 88 pupils – will be lucky if it has 60 pupils after the holidays.

She said: "We have lost quite a lot thanks to this. Without a shadow of a doubt, this is part of the council's plan to try and close us."

The council admits parents from Lismore and Bonnington have been seeking places at other schools in the city, but adds this is not being mirrored at Westburn, which would have a longer stay of execution.

A council spokeswoman said: "We understand this is difficult time and we would like to reiterate that no decisions have been made on the closure of any schools until the consultation period is over. Parents have freedom of choice of where they send their children to school."