School report favours Forres over Buckie
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Officers at Moray Council are recommending that Forres Academy is replaced with a newly built school before the same happens with Buckie High School.
Both school buildings are both below the recommended national standards.
Moray Council has put forward funding bids to the Scottish Government's Learning Estate Investment Programme to replace each.
However, when more than one bid is made, the funding criteria requires local authorities to identify a single project to take precedence.
Forres has been judged as one of only two schools in Scotland rated at the lowest level D for its condition.
Buckie, meanwhile, is deemed to be poor with a C mark.
However, as that assessment was done five years ago there are fears it could now have fallen into the lowest category.
Councillors were originally due to make a decision on September 14, but that meeting was cancelled following the death of the Queen.
At the rescheduled meeting on September 28 members then voted by 14 to 10 to hold discussions in private due to fears that debating in public might influence the outcome of a by-election in Buckie, which will take place on Thursday.
All five candidates standing in the town have given their backing to a new Buckie High.
Applications to the Scottish Government's fund should have been submitted by the end of October.
However the council has agreed with the fund's managers that it can wait until shortly after the by-election to let them know its priority projects.
A decision to prioritise either Forres or Buckie is now expected on Monday.
Andy Hall, the council's programme manager for the learning estate, has prepared a report for the elected members regarding the state of both school buildings.
He admits there is little between the pair, but recommends they choose Forres.
He states: "The criteria to prioritise the acceleration of one project over the other shows that the differentiators between the Forres Academy and the Buckie High School projects are small.
"However, it is the current and future condition comparison that is viewed as the key factor in favouring one project over another.
"The prioritisation of Forres Academy rather than Buckie High School would mitigate the operational and financial risks associated with a building that is condition D and, therefore, the priority option is recommended as Forres Academy."
The coastal secondary can be built within its existing boundary.
By contrast, land will have to be bought to accommodate a new Forres Academy.
Roysvale common good land is the preferred choice.
If bids are approved, the fund will cover up to half the cost of replacing a school, but a completion date of December 2027 is a condition.
The price of building a campus at Forres for students ranged between three and 18 is put at £87.4 million.
The expected price in Buckie is £95.7 million, as it also includes a swimming pool.
There are also options for secondary schools with community hubs costing £79.2 million at Forres and £84.1 million at Buckie.
The council has assigned £66 million and £75 million respectively to replace Forres and Buckie schools in its 10 year capital plan.
Regardless of any Scottish Government funding coming forward the council has a responsibility to bring schools up to a minimum B standard for both condition and suitability.
The report will be discussed at a meeting of the education committee on Monday before going to full council later that same day.
