Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

D-Day for Moray schools as councillors debate education review

Allan Wright
Allan Wright

Schools across Moray are facing D-Day today as the local authority debates the findings of is controversial sustainable education review.

It was drawn-up by consultants Caledonian Economics – and has already sparked protest rallies and marches before any decisions are made.

Action groups and campaigners have criticised the council after several schools across the region were recommended for closure as part of the proposed restructuring of education in Moray.

Lengthy discussions have been held between the council administration and the opposition SNP group to try to find common ground after the Nationalists moved last week to try to save all rural schools.

Moray Council leader Allan Wright said last night that the administration would be working “until minutes before the meeting” to try to find consensus.

Councillor Wright added that he was “disappointed” by all the “premature” save our school (SOS) campaigns.

He added: “My regret in all this is that the public have got the idea that we will be taking up everything that was on the list of suggestions by Caledonian Economics.

“It was quite clear that this would be a project that would take 10, 15, 20 years to implement.

“All the SOS campaigns disappointed me a lot because they are premature, and there didn’t seem to be an acceptance that this plan will be a strategic implementation.”

Various politicians, action group members and parents have questioned the quality of the report.

SNP group leader Councillor Pearl Paul said: “We expected a far more radical study looking at how education can be delivered but, unfortunately, this report is too focused on numbers and buildings.”

Labour councillor John Divers said: “As councillors, or MPs or MSPs, sometimes we have to take difficult decisions on what we feel is for the long-term betterment and good, but for the rural schools we are not looking to anything happening for five or ten years or maybe even longer.”

Last week, group of primary children stormed the headquarters of Moray Council to try to save their school — which council staff retaliated to by calling the police.

The Keep Findochty School Open group – including more than 30 pupils, parents and community councillors – marched through the centre of Elgin to hand the council a petition signed by more than 600 people.

The Save Milne’s High group has also staged a march and rally to try to ensure the secondary at Fochabers is spared the axe.