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.

Forres Academy takes precedence over Buckie High in schools funding bid

Exterior view of Forres Academy.
Reassurances have been given that Forres Academy is safe to reopen to pupils and staff. Image: Jason Hedges/DC Thomson

Forres Academy is being recommended as a priority project for replacement ahead of Buckie High School.

The schools are both below recommended standards with Forres judged to be one of only two schools in Scotland rated at the lowest level D for its condition.

Moray Council has put forward funding bids to the third phase of the Scottish Government Learning Estate Investment Programme to help fund new buildings for both.

However, the funding criteria requires local authorities to identify a project to take precedence if bids are made for more than one school.

A decision on application and choosing which secondary should take priority was supposed to be taken by councillors at a meeting on September 14.

But that was cancelled following the death of the Queen and rescheduled for September 28.

A funding bid has been submitted to help with the cost of replacing Buckie High School. Image: Gordon Lennox/DC Thomson

However, at the last minute it was felt the matter should not be debated in public for fear of influencing the outcome of a by-election in Buckie, which will take place on Thursday.

Members at that meeting voted by 14 to 10 to hold discussions in private.

The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Liberal Democrat councillor Christopher Price in August.

All five candidates standing have given their backing for a new Buckie High.

While applications to the fund had to be submitted by the end of October, the council agreed with fund managers they would let them know their priority project following the by-election.

Forres Academy is in a worse state than Buckie High but only just.

Forres Academy in worse state

It has a D standard for condition, which is the worst a school can be rated.

Buckie is deemed to be poor with a C mark, but as that assessment was done five years ago there are fears it could have fallen into the lowest category.

Both are below the minimum requirement of a double B mark for condition and suitability.

While Forres ranks as B in terms of the size and flexibility of classrooms for learning and teaching, Buckie has a C rating.

In his report, programme manager for the learning estate Andy Hall said: “The criteria to prioritise the acceleration of one project over the other shows that the differentiators between the Forres Academy and the Buckie High School projects are small.

“However, it is the current and future condition comparison that is viewed as the key factor in favouring one project over another.

Buckie High School in poor condition

“The prioritisation of Forres Academy rather than Buckie High School
would mitigate the operational and financial risks associated with a building
that is condition D and, therefore, the priority option is recommended as
Forres Academy.”

While the coastal secondary can be built within its existing boundary, land will have to be bought to accommodate a new Forres Academy with Roysvale common good land the preferred choice.

If the bids are successful it could fund up to 50% of the costs of replacing the schools, but a completion date of December 2027 is a condition of the money being approved.

The price of building a three to 18 campus at Forres is put at £87.4 m, with one at Buckie that would include a replacement swimming pool expected to be £95.7m.

There is also options for secondary schools with community hubs costing £79.2m at Forres and £84.1m at Buckie.

The council has assigned £66m and £75m respectively to replace Forres and Buckie schools in its 10-year capital plan.

Councillors will decide if Forres Academy will be its priority school for replacement at a meeting on Monday.

Regardless of any Scottish Government funding coming forward the council has a responsibility to bring schools up to a minimum of a B standard for both condition and suitability.

The report will be discussed at a meeting of the education, children’s and leisure services committee on November 7 before going to full council later in the day.

Conversation