Parents at an Aberdeenshire primary school feel “disempowered” over plans to shake-up which secondary their children will attend.
Youngsters at Lairhillock are currently split into two zones – with those living in the north of the village going to Cults Academy in Aberdeen and those in the south going to Mackie Academy in Stonehaven.
But Aberdeen City Council is currently running a consultation to rezone the primary school’s catchment area away from Cults to enable it to create more capacity.
The move would mean that all pupils from Lairhillock would likely go to Mackie Academy, meaning longer journey times.
Earlier this week, members of the local authority’s Kincardine and Mearns area committee said they did not feel the proposals would be advantageous to pupils, and pointed out it would have a knock-on effect on the rolls at their own already busy schools.
The council’s education, learning and leisure committee has also discussed its response to the city council’s consultation, which runs until Thursday.
Chairwoman Isobel Davidson, who represents Ellon and District, said: “I attended the consultation on this at Cults Academy.
“The parents there felt that because they don’t have any contact with city councillors, they are disempowered and don’t have much of a voice.”
Stonehaven and Lower Deeside councillor Peter Bellarby said: “I don’t think this clearly demonstrates there are educational benefits in this proposal.
“It seems to me what we need to have is educational benefits for all children in current zones and that’s something that needs to be considered.”
Councillors have backed the education service’s draft response to the proposed rezoning, which recommends no changes are made to current arrangements.
If Aberdeen City Council proceeds with the shake-up, Aberdeenshire Council will hold its own consultation on which academy pupils should go to, although Mackie is officers’ preferred option.