A top fee-paying Aberdeen school at the centre of bullying and staff behaviour complaints has been forced to close – because it is running out of money.
Inspections were carried out at the Waldorf school in Cults last month after concerns were raised by parents.
And now the school’s council has announced that the decision to shut the facility was “the only responsible option”.
Donald Phillips, chairman of the Aberdeen Waldorf School Council, said the closure decision had been taken after a review of the school’s finances.
“It is our legal duty to ensure that the school has enough funds to operate and we have sufficient reserves to continue to the end of the school year and to fulfil our legal obligations,” he said. “We had planned to continue with our five-year plan to strengthen the financial status of the school.
“However, events of recent weeks have forced the school council to re-evaluate them and we are aware that a number of pupils will be leaving the school at the end of this year.” A joint inspection team from the care regulator and Education Scotland, which upholds classroom standards on behalf of the Scottish Government, visited the school last month. A report on their inspection is due to be released on April 22.
One member of staff said: “This leaves all the staff having to look for new jobs now. It was just too difficult and too late to make any changes there.
“They had hoped to turn it around but they couldn’t. There was too much to do and it was too difficult.”
An Education Scotland spokesman said its staff had been working closely with the school and the Care Inspectorate to explore options for it to remain open.
He added: “However, the school has made the decision that it will close.
“We recognise this will be difficult for all concerned and we will continue to work with the school to ensure all pupils’ transitions to new schools go as smoothly as possible.”
A Care Inspectorate spokesman confirmed that it had been notified of the planned closure.