Highland Council has been accused of speeding up a public consultation on the closure of a group of Skye primary schools to avoid new stricter rules.
A formal consultation on the proposed amalgamation of Edinbane, Dunvegan, Struan, and Knockbreck primary schools to form a new community school in Dunvegan was expected to begin in August.
Instead, it started in May and finished in July – just before the Children and Young People’s Scotland Act became law on August 1.
The new act includes “a presumption against rural school closure” and states that the local authority must identify its reasons for proposing closure and consider whether there are any reasonable alternatives.
Parents at the affected schools are concerned that the consultation was brought forward to avoid the need to comply with the new legislation.
And Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch MSP Dave Thompson has written to Highland Council chief executive to highlight their concerns.
Fiona MacDonald, who has a child at five-pupil Knockbreck Primary and is secretary of its parent council, said: “We feel that it has been pushed through very quickly and it seems to have been done in advance of the new bill.
“It is hard not to have a suspicion that it has been done to avoid the presumption against closing rural schools.
And Frances Maclean, who is chairwoman of the Edinbane parent council and has two children at the eight-pupil school, said they were led to believe the public consultation would start in August, then suddenly discovered it was starting on May 23.
She said: “We asked why and were told it was due the dates of the school term and the education committee meetings, but they had known these dates all along.”
Both mothers want their schools to remain open because they felt they provided a good education for their children and encouraged younger people and families to live in their communities.
Dave Thompson said: “While I understand that Highland Council has to work within tight financial budgets, it is imperative that the potential effects on the education of the children in these areas is paramount and must be considered with great care.
“I am hoping the council can reassure me and the parents of the children concerned that everything that is being done, is being done properly and in full compliance with the current legal stipulations.”
A Highland Council spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that the council has received a letter from Dave Thompson MSP and a response will be sent in due course.”