A report on the future of Fife’s school estate has sparked debate among local politicians.
Councillors on the region’s education and children’s services committee pledged to commit to a replacement for Inverkeithing Highl, as well as pursue options for the renewal or replacement of Glenwood and Glenrothes High in Glenrothes and Woodmill and St Columba’s High in Dunfermline.
Talks have also been held in relation to the Dunfermline duo with the possibility mooted of a ‘super’ campus which could encompass both schools as well as a new Fife College facility.
However, with the Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay by-election just a week away, the fallout has already started as SNP Dunfermline MSP Shirley-Anne Somerville accused Labour of holding back progress of new schools in the area.
Ms Somerville said she was “astounded” by Labour claims there was “no appetite” for a joint learning campus in the town and urged elected members to help deliver the project.
“This claim is entirely negative and no evidence of this apparent lack of appetite has been presented,” she said.
“As well as providing state of the art facilities for both St Columba’s and Woodmill High pupils and Fife College students, the opportunities and pathways that would be opened to young people would be fascinating.
“Previous Labour administrations utterly failed to plan for any replacement of Woodmill and St Columba’s.
“That lack of planning led to the anguish this year as capacity was reached at Woodmill and officials had to come up with a short term fix which was difficult for pupils and parents alike.”
Labour by-election candidate Billy Pollock accused the Scottish Government of letting down pupils in Dunfermline and west Fife “time and time again”.
“File Labour has allocated £50m towards new schools, unfortunately there is still no sign of any money on the table from the SNP Scottish Government,” he said.
“The £50m sitting in the council bank account is stagnant money which should be used to benefit our pupils.
“I call on the council to allocate the funding now to replace Inverkeithing High School as this is in the worst condition of all schools in Fife.”
Local Labour MP Lesley Laird said using the £50 million for Inverkeithing was “absolutely the right decision”.
“Of course, I know that there are other schools that require renewal or replacement across Fife but the onus lies with Scottish Government to provide funds to make those projects viable,” she said.
“That’s always been the tradition for past funding models – so, why should it be different now?”
The council has stressed officers have been asked to prepare detailed plans for the new Inverkeithing High “which can include working within capital resources”, although no indication has been given about possible Scottish Government funding.
Meanwhile, committee member Alistair Crockett courted controversy by suggesting the council should look again at potentially closing schools.
“I think we should restart the process of looking at school closures and assessing need,” he said, noting that 16 out of 153 schools currently have a poor C condition rating, falling short of the council’s desired A or B ratings.”
