New funding packages for dilapidated Fortrose Academy and new classrooms on Skye have been welcomed by local politicians.
Black Isle MSP Kate Forbes yesterday celebrated a £600,000 funding guarantee for repairs at the academy, days after it emerged that mushrooms were growing on the walls of a damp-ridden classroom.
Highland councillors rubber-stamped the cost of removing lethal asbestos and refurbishing the school’s changing rooms.
Ms Forbes said: “I’m pleased the council’s listening and that remedial work can begin during the summer holidays.”
Its new “people’s committee”, incorporating education, also approved £350,000 for new modular classrooms to replace leaking cabins at Broadford Primary before the summer break.
Concerns remain about damp in the flat roof of the school’s main building and inadequate toilets.
Newly elected Skye councillor John Finlayson, who pressed the case for Broadford at yesterday’s meeting in Inverness, said: “Broadford Primary needs to appear on the council’s capital build programme very soon.
“The community deserves to have some indication of when it can expect a new school.
“During the last administration a business plan had been started about building a new school. This needs fast-tracked.”
He added: “Along with all the other councillors on Skye, we’ll be working hard together to support the children, parents and wider community of Broadford and the surrounding area.”
