Additional support needs provision in Perth and Kinross is set for a major expansion.
Councillors are being asked to rubber-stamp plans for eight schools over the next three years.
Education chiefs say the £457,000 investment is needed to address gaps in the service at present, and to cope with future demand.
A report going to Perth and Kinross Council’s learning and families committee says there aren’t enough places to meet the forecast level of need for the 2025/2026 academic year.
There are currently no ‘Intensive Support Provisions’ (ISPs) at the Community School of Auchterarder, Kinross High School and St John’s RC Academy in Perth, or in the primary schools in their catchment areas.
It means pupils with additional support needs are having to travel long distances to be taught in other schools.
That is costly for the council but it’s also distancing youngsters from their own communities and friends.
The committee report says: “Some of the most vulnerable children and young people in Perth and Kinross Council schools are having to travel significant distances to school each day.
“And for some this can increase feelings of distress before the school day has even begun.”
Perth & Kinross Council sets out additional support needs plan
Education chiefs are proposing eight new ISPs, phased in over three years.
Phase one would involve Kinross High School, Perth High School and a primary school in the Perth Academy catchment area.
Phases two and three will involve the development of new ISPs at the Community School of Auchterarder and St John’s RC Academy in Perth, as well as primary schools in their catchments.
Additional primary provision for children in the Bertha Park High School catchment is also proposed.
Education bosses have identified potential spaces for these new ISPs in most areas.
But a lack of capacity in primary schools in the Kinross and Milnathort area means gaps here will be trickier to fill.
Kinross youngsters facing long journeys
The report says “significant building work” may be required to support primary pupils in the Kinross High School catchment.
In the meantime officers are suggesting primary school children with additional support needs might be allocated spaces at Errol, more than 30 miles away, from August 2025.
An additional class would be established in the existing ISP at Errol Primary to accommodate these youngsters.
The council acknowledges this will mean pupils having to travel long distances.
But it would allow children from the same area to stay together.
The learning and families committee will discuss the proposals when it meets on Wednesday January 29.
If councillors agree to the recommendations, the next step will be consultations on the measures in phase one.
Conversation