Largue School Mothballing Decision Reversed

A small Aberdeenshire school temporarily closed by officials rather than councillors is to stay open.

The news came in a letter from Director of Education and Children’s Services Laurence Findlay, sent to parents at 3.55pm on Monday.

The school was set to be mothballed because, at the end of March, the expected school roll for next year dropped to only seven pupils.

However, an update from the Council confirmed that they now expected nine to attend in August 2023.

Families told of the Largue School decision by the council earlier this year had branded it undemocratic.

A policy change by the local authority two years ago meant a decision to mothball a school where the roll was expected to fall below eight was delegated to the director of education.

Aberdeenshire Council said earlier this month that for the new session starting in August, Largue School was projected to have a roll of seven pupils so the decision had been made to mothball the school.

An online petition against the plans was launched, and parents including Paula McRitchie said it was the wrong decision.

Local authority said on Tuesday that the roll at Largue School has increased this month to 10 pupils and by August there is a predicted roll of nine pupils.

The director of education and children’s services made the decision that Largue School will remain open with continuous monitoring of the school roll and should the roll drop to eight or below during the 2023/24 academic year, the decision to mothball will be revisited.