PARENTS have accused education chiefs of treating the consultation into the closure of Fort Primary as a "sham" by preparing pupils and staff for the move to a new school.
The claims come following the announcement that the headteacher from Trinity Primary – where Fort pupils would go if their school were to close – is moving to the under-threat Fort.
This has sparked fears that the move has been arranged so that h
eadteacher Jacqueline Scott can get to know pupils and staff at Fort before they are moved to Trinity.
Parents believe the decision is undermining the consultation - which doesn't actually start until August – and say the council is treating them with "contempt".
Andrew MacMillan, chair of the parent council at Trinity, said: "Parents are incensed that the council is treating them with –contempt.
"The Fort consultation process has not even started yet, and the council are treating it like a sham by moving our existing headteacher in to start to get to know Fort pupils and staff in order to prepare for integration.
"The council should not have made this appointment at a stage when the Fort closure consultation had not been completed.
"Parents won't take this lying down and will fight all the harder against this ill-thought-through proposal which will harm children's education at both schools."
Mrs Scott will be seconded to Fort Primary from 22 September when its current headteacher Moira Heatly moves to Forthview Primary.
If the consultation decision is to keep Fort open, a permanent headteacher will be appointed to the school in January 2010 and Mrs Scott will return to Trinity.
However, if the consultation decision is to close Fort, Mrs Scott will remain there until June 2010 and return to Trinity from August 2010, carrying on transition work in the meantime.
Vikki Spence, member of the Fighting For Fort campaign group, says she hopes Mrs Scott's time at Fort will work in favour of the under-threat school by highlighting the good work it is doing.
She said: "On the one hand it could look like that's the decision made and this is about how they are dealing with the transition.
"But on the other hand it's also a good way to let the headteacher see how the school runs.
"The two schools are so different, it's not just about bringing one school into another one.
"We would hope that she would tell the education department how well the school runs as it is and that the layout of the school means that we do run very differently to Trinity."
She added: "The thing that the two parent councils are not happy about is we haven't been told personally about what's happening with the headteachers.
"At the very least we should be made aware in advance, but the council and the schools are not keeping the parent councils informed. "
Council bosses deny that there is anything sinister in seconding Trinity's headteacher to Fort in the interim. A spokesman said: "This is a simple short-term solution to ensure the smooth running of the schools following the departure of a headteacher."
The council is proposing to close four schools from next summer. As well as Fort, the council will be consulting on closing Drumbrae, Royston and Burdiehouse and moving children into nearby schools.
The full article contains 562 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
