The review process that could result in the closure of several Fife schools has been “robust”, according to a local government committee.
Members of Fife Council’s education scrutiny committee passed recommendations that will pave the way for the local authority to consider closing the doors of seven primary schools as part of a cost-cutting programme.
The agreement means the review process, involving Tanshall, Pitcorthie, Rathillet, Dunino, New Gilston, Wellwood and Crombie primary schools, will again be returned to Fife Council’s executive committee next week.
Councillors were presented with the opportunity to discuss the reasons behind selecting those schools.
Stating that a variety of factors have been taken into consideration, Donna Manson, head of education, said: “We were asked to apply these to every school in Fife and consider its benefits.
“It is not just an exercise of looking at facts and figures, our motive is that children get good experiences in our schools.”
Although some additional recommendations were put forward by members, all seven review processes were passed as “robust” in their undertaking.
A further decision to rezone the catchment area for Masterton Primary between the schools at Canmore and Pitreavie was also returned to next week’s meeting of the council’s executive committee, where the process will continue.
Councillor Susan Leslie, the committee chairman, was forced to stress that the role of the committee was to scrutinise the process undertaken by education officers, despite some attempts to push forward party political cases early in the meeting.
The call proved relatively successful, although the scrutiny process lasted more than five hours.
SNP councillor Douglas Chapman did raise some concerns, stating his belief the review process had caused great uncertainty in some of the affected communities.
“I still cannot work out where this is taking us,” he said.
“We are putting a lot of communities through a lot of stress.
“I know it is difficult not to do that, but these communities would like to know the many reasons why this council is taking these decisions.
“The spare capacity in our schools has been identified, but I can’t see how this helps us. The number of spaces here are on a minor scale. This is a piecemeal approach.”
Concerns were also raised about the potential impact on teaching jobs, particularly the number of probationer teachers that could be taken on following their placement year.
Officers stressed that Fife would continue to take its share of trainees, with contracts being held between the probationer and the Scottish Government, not Fife Council.
Adding that an increasing school roll region-wide meant teacher numbers were unlikely to fall.
Shelagh McLean, the council’s directorate resources manager, said: “Nobody will lose their job as a result of the changes as they would move to another school in accordance with their preferences.
“We will always take our allocation of probationers they are allocated to us by the Scottish Government. At the end of their year they can apply for positions in Fife or go to another local authority if they don’t want to stay here.
“We have an increasing school roll, and because we have additional pupils coming in we can manage that (teacher numbers).”
Fife Council’s executive committee will further discuss the school review process at its meeting next Tuesday.