Education chiefs have been unsuccessful in their search for a head teacher for a temporarily closed primary school, despite extending the application deadline for a third time.
Longhaven School, which is located near Peterhead, closed at the beginning of the Easter holidays after it failed to find a new head teacher.
It also has another two senior vacancies which need filled.
Yesterday at a meeting of the education committee, Vincent Docherty, head of education, confirmed the application period was extended for a third time at the end of April but no suitable candidate had come forward.
The school’s five pupils have now been relocated to Boddam, Burnhaven and Hatton.
Mr Doherty stressed the school had not been mothballed and insisted the plan was still to reopen the facility.
East Garioch councillor Martin Ford said in hindsight the staffing issue should not have been a surprise to education bosses.
He added: “We have had chronic recruitment problems in Aberdeenshire and have lots of schools which have one, two, three vacancies.
“Sooner or later it was clear that we were going to have a smaller school where this would happen, meaning it would be running with staff 50%, or even 0%.
“With the number of very small schools we have got and the level of recruitment problems we have, this is not going to be the last time we have a situation like this.”
A further update will be given to councillors in October.
Meanwhile, the committee also agreed to ask the public their views on the future of the mothballed Strachan School.
The authority made the decision last June after the facility’s pupil roll plummeted over a number of years.
Yesterday, councillors agreed the public would be asked their views on the future of the school before any official decision on its fate was taken.
One of the options that is likely to be on the table is the permanent closure of the facility.
However, education officers said they would listen to any views put forward by the community and stated no decision had been made at this stage.
The committee agreed a consultation would be held and a fresh report with various options for the school’s future would be discussed in the future.