Three options coming before council with Moray school hanging in the balance

By Garrett Stell

August 23 2022, 6:00 am

Here's what we know about the three options on the table for Inveravon Primary School.

Councillors will decide this week whether to move forward with closing Inveravon Primary School permanently.

Moray Council officers have put forward three preferred options, all of which involve closing the Speyside school.

Councillors will determine the school’s future on Wednesday morning by deciding whether to open a public consultation on closure.

Members of the education, children’s and leisure services committee can still opt to keep the school open, but it could cost the council over £300,000 in added expenses.

If Inveravon closes, there will be knock-on effects for nearby Knockando, Glenlivet and Aberlour primaries.

Council officers are expected to advocate for closing Inveravon and permanently merging the Inveravon and Knockando catchment areas. The public will have a chance to get involved before the final decision.

Here’s what we know about all three options on the table.

Options for Inveravon Primary School closure

Each possible course of action involves splitting the Inveravon catchment area between one or more of three nearby schools: Knockando, Glenlivet and Aberlour Primaries.

Councillors will discuss three primary options:

Close Inveravon Primary School and rezone its catchment for Knockando.
Close Inveravon Primary School and split its catchment between Knockando and Aberlour.
Close Inveravon Primary School and split its catchment between Knockando, Aberlour and Glenlivet.

A map of the catchment areas for Inveravon, Knockando, Glenlivet and Aberlour Primary Schools. Moray Council is being asked to close Inveravon and fully merge its catchment with Knockando’s.

Inveravon has been mothballed since its last pupil left the school in September 2017.

There are currently 15 families living in the catchment area who have primary-aged children. But council records show that, since 2017, no families have asked to enrol at Inveravon.

The council currently sends children in the Inveravon area to Knockando, which has the lowest capacity of the three nearby schools. Council officers are suggesting merging Inveravon and Knocando permanently as it would mean the least change for students and schools.

Options 2 and 3 would both result in new catchment areas and an increase in the number of pupils needing council transportation.

Weighing cost and community impact

Inveravon has been causing Moray Council headaches for years. It began with a declining roll and a deteriorating structure. Later, the council spent thousands on expenses during the mothballing period. Council data shows that it currently costs £48,207 per year to maintain the mothballed school. If they choose to reopen it, costs could increase more than sevenfold.

That’s because reopening it would require £206,000 and “significant capital works” to restore the building to suitable condition. Council documents estimate that would need to be followed by another £130,000 investment over five years.

Reopening the school could leave the council spending roughly £31,000 per pupil per year. For comparison, the average pupil spending across Moray schools is £7,225.

Is anything else on the table?

In addition to the three options listed above, councillors can still move to continue mothballing Inveravon or reopen it fully.

During the initial public consultation, many community members suggested alternative uses for the site such as business, recreation or residential centres for the community.

But the school sits on land that the council doesn’t own. Ballindalloch Estate owns the land and gave the council permission to use it for a school more than 100 years ago.

That century-long agreement would come to an end if Inveravon Primary School closes. Any potential uses for the property after that point are out of the council’s hands.

Want to speak up?

The Moray Council education, children’s and leisure services committee meets tomorrow morning (Wednesday) at 9:30 am at the council offices in Elgin.

If they move to close Inveravon Primary School, there will be in-person consultations at Inveravon Church at 1:30 pm and Speyside High at 7 pm on September 27.

The council will also accept written comments at learningestate@moray.gov.uk and release details for attending online consultations at a later date.