Parents have been left blind-sided by the sudden decision to mothball a school which was hit by an oil leak more than two years ago.
At a closed-door meeting on Thursday, families were officially informed that Gartly School, near Huntly, will temporarily close in August this year.
The announcement also came as a shock to local councillors, who said they had been kept in the dark about how and when the decision was made.
The future of the school has been a hot topic since it first shut in 2018, after children and staff started to feel sick and went home smelling of kerosene.
All of the 23 pupils and nursery children at the time were moved to Rhynie’s school instead due to the extensive soil contamination.
At the end of January, Aberdeenshire Council was presented with a report, which included several options for Gartly Primary – for it to be reinstated, permanently closed or mothballed.
Following the education and children’s services committee meeting, it was agreed that all options will be considered with further discussion taking place in June.
However, the formal temporary closure of the rural school has now been officially confirmed.
Charlotte Whitley, the mother of a Gartly pupil with additional support needs, said this “feels like a constructive closure of the school”, even though the consultation process continues.
She said: “We are so disappointed and it has been quite emotional to hear this really.
“We’ve built such an amazing relationship with everybody at Gartly and it just feels like the children have been ripped away from what is a fantastic school with remarkable staff.
“The oil leak was an accident and no one could have predicted it, but the important thing is how the council managed it, because it was their responsibility to make it better no matter the price.
“And from day one it’s been managed so appalling that as a result now the school is going to be closed.
“These are very difficult times, but this was not Gartly’s fault.
“It’s not the community’s or the children’s fault, but they are the ones paying the price now.”
She added: “We are in a difficult situation, because my child has additional needs and any transition for him is difficult.
“With Covid this year, it has been one battle after another and now we are facing the trauma of having to resettle him into a new school.
“We will support Gartly throughout this consultation process and keep making the point that it needs to be saved for the sake of the community, but for us – that’s our journey with Gartly finished by the summer holidays.”
Following the meeting on Thursday, parents have “bombarded” the council with emails seeking further explanation of the decision.
However, none of their inquiries have been met with a response.
Local councillors are also yet to be briefed on the situation, having been refused the chance to attend the online discussion.
Huntly councillor, Gwyneth Petrie, said: “The concern is where that decision has come from – who and when.
“Unfortunately, we have not been given any details from the meeting yet and therefore, as local councillors we don’t have the information to be able to respond to constituents and that’s a very difficult situation to be in.”
Councillor Robbie Withey added: “After two years of local councillors supporting the reinstatement of the school – it’s been taken out of our hands and mothballed anyway.
“I’ll be asking officers to bring this back to the table post pandemic, with options to getting Gartly back to being a thriving rural school.”
In response to the announcement, Aberdeenshire Council’s education and children’s services director Laurence Findlay said: “While the school has not been open for some time now, it has been agreed that a formal temporary closure of the schools will take effect from August.
“We held a virtual meeting for parents and carers this week to explain the current position and to stress that no final decision has yet been taken about the future of Gartly School.
“We appreciate this has been a very difficult time for families, pupils and staff, but it is important we fully explore all options around the school before any permanent solution is found, and we will continue to work with the local community as our considerations progress.”
