Analysis of the impact of previous rural school closures in Moray found that not all change is bad.
In 2000, Tomintoul Secondary, Glenrinnes Primary, Boharm Primary and Edinvillie Primary were all closed as part of a rural education review.
A comparison of the 2001 and 2011 censuses by Caledonian Economics revealed that the size of the population in all four closure areas increased after schools were closed.
Subject to the same review, another rural school, Rothiemay, remained open.
In addition to examining the areas around the closed schools, another area around Rothiemay was also examined, and the population was found to have decreased between censuses.
The Moray (SER) Final Report published on September 24 states: “The size of the population in all four closure areas increased between 2001 and 2011 by between one-third and two-thirds, compared with a 9% reduction in Rothiemay and a 7% rise in Moray as a whole.”
Tomintoul business owner Jacqui Horning has lived in the village for 30 years and had three children at the secondary school when it went up for closure.
The owner of A’anside Studios said: “Shutting Tomintoul has only been beneficial for the secondary aged children, and it has certainly not been detrimental to the community.
“The secondary aged children benefit from a wider choice of subjects and wider social contact. Their social contact was very limited in the old Tomintoul secondary.
“My daughter was the only one in the German class. You can’t teach properly with one pupil all the time.
“There were about 24 pupils across the whole four years. It just can’t possibly work.”