Parents will be “greatly relieved” to hear that Barnhill Primary School will be able to take all priority one pupils next term, Broughty Ferry councillor Rod Wallace has said.
He had raised concerns that the number of pupils living in the catchment area and who were seeking a place at the start of next term would exceed the school’s capacity to cope.
That prompted education convener Liz Fordyce to accuse him of scaremongering, although she also said it was possible catchments in the Broughty Ferry area might have to be “tweaked” at some point.
Mr Wallace has now met senior council officers and been given “a complete assurance” all the eligible pupils will be accepted.
“I have phoned around some of my constituents to give them the good news,” he said. “The last thing people want is hearing that they may not get their child into the school they want.”
A spokesman for the city council’s education department confirmed 74 priority one placing requests had been received by the deadline.
The school had the capacity to accommodate them, he said, adding, “We can assure families of all eligible priority one pupils in Barnhill’s catchment area that their children will get a place at the primary in August.”
The Falkland Crescent school is one of the largest in Dundee with around 400 pupils. Its Ferry neighbours Forthill and Eastern are also at the top end of the scale, having around 850 pupils between them.
Extensive housebuilding in the Ferry has prompted worries about the ability of schools to cope with rising pupil numbers. Mr Wallace said there were potentially another 750 homes in the pipeline if developers went ahead with proposed projects.
He had raised the issue during his meeting and believed it was something the council would have to tackle in future although he had been told at present there was no need to change school catchments.
This would quash rumours the Clearwater Park and Miller Homes developments near the A92 might be transferred to the Claypotts Castle Primary catchment, he said.