LOSSIEMOUTH High and Keith Grammar are not already earmarked for closure.
Rumours have been circulating in the towns in the wake of Moray Council’s Independent/Conservative administration’s budget, passed last month, that the secondaries would shut.
The local authority is planning to cut £30 million from services over the next four years.
Council leader Allan Wright has warned that schools will close but denies any have already been selected.
‘The Northern Scot’ has received calls from readers concerned over the future of the two secondaries.
A review of the school estate – comprising 45 primary and eight high schools – is to be carried out in a bid to more closely match pupil numbers with school capacity figures and make savings of £4 million.
There has been speculation that 12 schools, including as many as two secondaries, could close as a result.
With a new Elgin Academy opening last year and funding secured to rebuild Elgin High would suggest the Moray capital’s secondaries would be out of the firing line.
Milne’s High in Fochabers and Aberlour’s Speyside High are classed as rural schools and therefore have greater protection under the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010.
Buckie High and Forres Academy, at opposite corners of the local authority area, have seen a drop in pupil numbers over the last 16 years, but still have rolls of 862 and 997 respectively.
Although numbers at Lossiemouth are much the same now as they were in 1995 at just over 670 it could be seen as easier to transport pupils to Elgin or Forres.
Keith Grammar has seen its school roll drop from 533 to 449 over the same period, the largest of any secondary in Moray.
Primary schools in the local authority area currently have accommodation for more than 9,100 but the total roll is under 6,400.
There are 5,600 pupils in secondaries which have classroom space for 6,500.
The council has stressed that there is no list of proposed school closures, that no decisions have been taken and that all that has been put forward at this stage is a proposal to review the school estate.
Councillor Wright said: "What I indicated at the budget meeting on February 13 was that top of the list in terms of potential savings in the years ahead was the school estate. I said that we have too many schools for the number of pupils – that is an inescapable fact.
"What I also said was that a review of the school estate was overdue and that it would be started as soon as possible. That remains the position and beyond that no decisions have been made.
"The review will be a thorough and comprehensive one and any decisions that are made will be based on the outcome of the review.
"Speculation about which schools, if any, may close is purely that – speculation – and is certainly unhelpful and unsettling for parents, pupils and staff."
Councillor Wright has already said the review would take "an holistic" rather than a "sticking plaster" approach.
"It will be a review that looks well into the future with an aim of delivering schools fit for purpose and with the best possible curriculum to deliver top quality education and equality opportunities across Moray," he said.
