A mothballed north-east primary school is set to be sold off after councillors agreed that the building was no longer needed.
Aberdeenshire’s Buchan area committee agreed to shut the school down last year, with the doors closing for the last time on July 4.
The rural building in Ardallie has lain empty since then with the last of its pupils transferred to schools nearby.
The move was first considered three years ago after the school’s roll fell to single figures.
It followed an extensive public consultation with teachers, parents and pupils – only a handful of whom wanted the building to remain open for future generations.
Education chiefs are now recommending that the school should be off-loaded with groups within the community who still used it for meetings having also found new accommodation.
In a report to go before councillors on Tuesday, Maria Walker, the local authority’s director of education, asks councillors to agree that the school be transferred to the estates service so that the
the process of finding a new owner can be found.
“The WRI group that met within the school have been re-allocated space, with their agreement, at Hatton School for their larger meetings,” she added.
“Furniture and equipment remaining within the school has subsequently been re-allocated to other schools and establishments that have provided an expression of interest. A few items are in
the process of being removed, but this can be accommodated simultaneously, while our estates service undertake the council’s surplus property procedure.”
Members had been told last year that it was “likely” the school would be offered on the open market.
During the school’s operation, the roll at Ardallie had dropped dramatically. Pupil numbers fell from 30 in Novermber 2005 to just 16 in September 2010.
The number of enrolled pupils dropped to 15 in 2011 and then to two the following year.
Both of the remaining children were transferred to other schools ahead of the closure.