Parents have been left in limbo over their children’s education as the future of a school closed following an oil leak more than two years ago still remains unknown.
All of the 23 pupils and nursery children at the time were moved to Rhynie’s school instead, about four miles away, due to the extensive soil contamination.
Since then, the future of the rural school has been a heavy topic of discussion with the options for it to be reinstated or permanently closed being debated by councillors.
Aberdeenshire Council’s education committee has now been presented with an updated report, which also included the option to temporarily mothball the building while further talks take place.
However, parents have argued that mothballing the school would not help anyone.
In a letter sent to the committee prior to the meeting, Charlotte Whitley, the mother of a Gartly pupil with additional support needs, outlined the predicament she had been left in.
She said: “We feel the proposed ‘mothballing’ is the beginning of a permanent closure – a one-way street as it were, with the only benefit being to the council’s purse, and certainly not to the children or to the community.
“From hearing the experiences of other parents in the cluster, removing our children from Gartly could offer no educational benefit whatsoever, quite the opposite in these circumstances.”
At the Marr area committee meeting in November, the majority of local councillors backed the reinstatement of the school, which if approved would take a minimum of 12 months to complete.
However, councillors at the recent education and children’s service committee meeting were more in favour of leading a wider consultation on all options – which could take even longer.
But Aberdeenshire Council’s education and children’s services director Laurence Findlay insisted a decision may be made as soon as June.
He said: “This situation has been going on for far too long, which is unsatisfactory for all concerned, although it is understandable in light of the pandemic and the public health elements.
“There is clearly a lot to discuss and to consider, and listening to the local views, it’s clear that there’s no appetite for the status quo to continue for too much longer.
“There is some suggestion that children from Gartly School would be better served if they were allowed to integrate as one group at Rhynie School.
“All being relatively well, we could come back with options by June, which hopefully is a reasonable timescale.
“In coming to a decision, I would seriously weigh up the feedback both from Gartly and Rhynie communities.”
Speaking to the P&J following the meeting, Mrs Whitley added: “As parents, we are extremely disappointed that we now have even more delay in a decision being made.
“We now expect to be mothballed, which in times of such upheaval and uncertainty is just too much.
“We ask the director of education to consider using an alternative building or a portakabin to house our school until further decisions are made – an idea which has been mentioned in the past, but never acted upon.”
