Parents have lost trust in Fife Council over its controversial proposals to axe schools, according to the opposition leader.
Councillor Peter Grant says rumours are circulating among those fighting plans to shut at least two of the kingdom’s seven closure-threatened primary schools, as they refuse to accept the official reasons offered.
The SNP leader said a story was spreading in Glenrothes that a demolition firm had already been hired for Tanshall Primary School and, in Dunfermline, that Pitcorthie Primary School had been selected for closure as the land had the highest market value.
While he dismissed both tales, Mr Grant said the fact parents believed them showed a lack of faith in the council’s justification for the proposals.
On Tuesday, endorsement was given to reports on each of the schools to be issued for public consultation which Mr Grant claimed were inaccurate, misleading and out-of-date.
He said: “If the council is going to base its argument on statements that parents, pupils and teachers know are factually incorrect, these people are never going to accept the argument.
“Some people at Pitcorthie Primary School are telling me that as soon as there was the intention to look at that part of Dunfermline for a school closure, it was always going to be Pitcorthie because the council would get a lot more money for selling the land for housing.”
The Glenrothes councillor cast doubt on that being the motivation for the proposal but said: “What’s happening is that parents at Pitcorthie genuinely can’t see any plausible case, firstly, for any school in that area closing and, secondly, for it being their school. People are desperate for answers that are logical. I doubt if it’s the correct answer but it’s the one that people are going to believe because the answers they are getting make no sense to them.”
The rumour at Tanshall showed a similar lack of faith, he said. “It gives you an idea of how little trust people have in the council that they are prepared to believe these stories.
“If this is what people are beginning to think of the council, it will never be able to persuade people to accept any difficult decisions in the future, not just concerning the school closures.”
The council’s education spokesman, Councillor Bryan Poole, insisted there was no truth in the rumours and hit back angrily at Mr Grant, accusing him and depute SNP leader Brian Goodall, whose ward Pitcorthie is in, of stirring up tension with misinformation for political gain.
He said: “They know there’s overcapacity in our schools but instead of being responsible about it like every other group on the council, including the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives, they have made the whole thing a political battle and I think that’s unforgiveable, frankly.
“It’s irresponsible to continue to spend money on schools we don’t need, particularly when we have over £100 million of savings to find in the next three or four years.
“I want to see money being spent on teachers and classroom assistants, where a bigger impact can be made, rather than buildings. I think the public is fed up with public sector money being spent on things we don’t need.
“I understand the attachment parents have to schools fully, but I certainly wouldn’t be supporting this if I thought there was going to be a negative impact on children’s education.”
He also said the SNP group had failed to back up its claim the reports were inaccurate.
Public consultation is due to begin on the proposed closure of Wellwood, Crombie, Pitcorthie, Tanshall, Rathillet, New Gilston and Dunino primary schools on September 16.