Parents of pupils at a north-east school facing closure have launched their own campaign to save it.
Longhaven Primary near Peterhead will close its doors to pupils for potentially the final time on Thursday after struggling to find a new headteacher.
It means mothers and fathers have only a matter of days to enrol their children in a new school before the Easter break.
Council bosses insist it is not a permanent closure and no decision has been taken on Longhaven’s future.
But the move has been labelled an “absolute shambles” by Aberdeenshire East MSP Gillian, who pledged 100% backing for the parents after meeting them at the weekend.
Linzi MacCaskill’s eight-year-old son is a pupil at Longhaven and she said he was “upset” by the “heartbreaking” decision.
She said: “The parents and the community will not stop fighting to save our school.
“It is special to everyone involved, whether that’s parents, pupils or people who spent their childhood there.
“Longhaven School really does a positive imprint on us all.
“To be given realistically three days to break it to our children and find new schools is a disgusting pressure onto kids.
“My boy is very upset, anxious and confused by it all. It is heartbreaking.
“The stress this has caused is so unnecessary and we feel we haven’t been given a chance to help the situation.”
Petra Campbell-Groat, chairwoman of the Longhaven Parent Council, is worried about the school’s future.
She said: “We’ve been told to find another school. In reality we only have three working days to arrange this.
“We fear it’s a loophole the council may use to disperse the families and force an easy permanent closure without following due process and lengthy consultations that a closure entails.
“The kids, parents and staff are all shocked at the speed this has come about with absolutely no warning.”
Ms Martin said: “I listened carefully to the parents’ account of events and it appears that Aberdeenshire Council’s handling of this situation has been nothing short of an absolute shambles.
“Serious questions need to be asked about how an education authority can allow a school to have no teachers.
“It’s quite incredible. The worry being expressed in the community is that this is a closure by stealth.
“The constituents who met with me seem determined to save their school and I will be supporting them 100% in that.”
Aberdeenshire Council’s head of education Vincent Docherty last night dismissed any suggestion of closing Longhaven and said they are continuing to look for a new headteacher.
He said: “I’d just like to reiterate there has been absolutely no mention of school closure and we have been doing everything we can to appoint a head teacher at Longhaven School.
“The post has been advertised three times and we are still looking to recruit. We will be offering every possible support to pupils and parents in the meantime.”