Dundee’s education convener has refused to rule out the possibility of closures in the wake of Monday’s decision to carry out a comprehensive review of the school estate.
Liz Fordyce said, “I’m certainly not looking to close schools with this review or anything like that. But we have to wait and see what the department comes back with and then the whole council will make the decision, not just me.
“I’m not going to say schools will close or they won’t close, but I can’t see any closing at the present time.
“The department will look at whether schools are working to their maximum potential and if there’s anything we need to do to help schools reach their full potential.
“Are they working effectively and to capacity, will they be sufficient or do we need to expand? Every single part of the school estate will be looked at.”
Labour group leader Kevin Keenan said, “The administration are starting to show their hand and I think we’ll start to see school buildings shut down, with smaller schools under threat.”
There have been several closures or mergers in recent years and more are planned, with two Whitfield primaries coming together and Lochee Primary School and Charleston Primary School doing the same on a shared campus with St Clement’s RC Primary School.
Ten city primaries have occupancy rates of under 40%.