More than 40 teaching jobs in Highland secondary schools could be axed to meet staff-to-pupil roll targets, the Press and Journal can reveal.
The ratio was set by the local authority’s Independent, Liberal Democrat and Labour administration.
Education chiefs have suggested the newly-built Millburn Academy in Inverness should bear the brunt of the cuts and lose nine staff.
The plans were criticised last night by opposition councillors and the country’s biggest teaching union.
The cuts would mean six fewer teachers at Plockton High School in Wester Ross, while Nairn and Alness academies and Wick High School would each lose five.
The staffing cuts will be achieved by retirement or by not filling vacancies.
The figures have been described as “provisional” by education official Ron MacKenzie, who has indicated to senior councillors that retirement and early retirement would go some way to meeting the target, while many probationer teachers are likely to move on at the end of their training.
Due to increased rolls a few schools will gain staff – including Inverness Royal Academy, Culloden and Dornoch academies and Ardnamurchan High School.
The formula for deciding the numbers was agreed by Highland Council members. The primary school figures are not expected to be revealed for several months.
Wick High School parent council chairman Iain Baikie said: “The reduction will have a dramatic detrimental effect on education for our pupils, on top of drab facilities and insufficient money for books.
“We had a 20% staff turnover last year.
“Experienced teachers will not be replaced. I think the school will struggle with provision for standard and advanced-grade highers if the cuts are made. We need science and engineering to get out of this recession and I believe cuts are going to be made there as well.”
SNP opposition group leader John Finnie said: “We have consistently argued that this administration gave little thought to the impact of their budget decisions.
“We strongly opposed their education proposal then, and strongly oppose these teaching cuts now.
“From Millburn Academy to Wick and tiny Kinloch-leven, which is losing ‘1.42’ teachers, the story is the same – the Lib Dem-led administr-ation have failed to deliver on their manifesto promises.”
Mr Finnie said this year’s settlement from the Scottish Government was the biggest yet, and added: “The administration have already axed 17 community learning posts and will now add 43 secondary teachers to that shameful list of job losses.
“This deeply-flawed administration must think about the damage they are causing to our children’s education and revisit this issue.”
Highland Council received an additional £22.7million from the government for 2009-10 – a 4% increase.
David Alston, the council’s budget leader, said: “There’s no change in policy. This is the director and his staff implementing the policies we’ve set, which the previous (Independent-SNP) administration had set.
“I think Mr Finnie’s at odds with his own government because Finance Secretary John Swinney is very clear about the future pressures on local government and the need to seek further efficiencies and manage our budgets as effectively as we can.”
Education committee chairman Bill Fernie added: “There will be no class that will not have a teacher. It may be that there are more difficulties for some of the secondary schools in their time-tabling and what’s on offer.
“This has to relate to the school roll projection and in some areas school rolls are falling. It’s obviously going to get a little bit tighter.”
Educational Institute of Scotland Highland secretary Andrew Stewart said: “We would be concerned about any cuts in staffing. You’re inevitably going to have higher class sizes.”