Councillors will tomorrow discuss the future of an Aberdeenshire school which has been closed for a year.
Gartly School was shut last December after a gas leak which left children “stinking of kerosene”.
The initial contamination, a liquid form of kerosene, moved underground and settled under the school’s boiler room and part of the school’s games hall.
The school has been “temporarily” closed since then – with the village of Gartly meeting in September to grill council staff on its future amid fears it might never reopen.
Under Freedom of Information legislation, the Press and Journal learned that between March and November £450,981 has been spent on “remedial works” at the school.
This comes on top of £2,543 spent on “general repairs and maintenance” in the same period.
Pupils were officially relocated to the Rhynie School this October, having previously been housed in makeshift classrooms at the Kennethmont School.
The following month, parents were notified the play park near to the school was open, with the council’s contractor Fairhurst confirming that any remaining contamination “would not pose a threat to air quality around the site”.
The local authority is now liaising with contractors as well as NHS Grampian to finalise costs and the potential next steps for the school.
Tomorrow councillors of the Marr area committee will discuss the matter in private.