£51 million is needed to upgrade Moray's schools

THE cost of bringing Moray’s schools up to a satisfactory standard would be at least £51 million, councillors have been warned.

And without any work, the condition of the district’s schools will only deteriorate further.

The issue is also likely to lead to a further review of the school estate in Moray.

Alistair Farquhar, head of educational resources, said the council currently had 15,500 spaces in its schools but only 12,000 pupils and the roll is predicted to fall below 11,000 by 2017.

However, Mr Farquhar stressed: "The school estate in Moray faces a number of significant challenges and has done for a number of years."

A previous review of schools across Moray led to proposal for the closure or merger of up to 15 schools.

However, that prompted a public outcry and following a consultation process, the then two pupils Cabrach School was the only one put forward for closure by Moray Council.

The Scottish Government at that time blocked the closure of Cabrach, although the school was subsequently mothballed when the roll fell to zero last year.

Moray Council and other local authorities currently have to observe a moratorium on the closure of rural schools, decreed by Education Secretary Michael Russell, until June next year, but that doesn’t stop them reviewing the school estate in the meantime.

Members of the council’s children and young people’s services committee, agreed that upgrading its schools to a ‘satisfactory’ standard must be their policy and officials will now come back with a detailed report on the level of funding that will require.

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