Community Opposes Closure of Dalry Secondary School
Sarah Ade emphasized that rural areas require distinct consideration compared to other regions of the country.
At the end of a winding road amid the hills, trees, and turbines of south-west Scotland, a significant educational dispute is underway.
Dumfries and Galloway Council (DGC) recently agreed to initiate the statutory process necessary to close Dalry Secondary School, Scotland's smallest secondary school, located in the village of Dalry. The school is projected to have only eight pupils enrolled in the upcoming academic year.
The council determined that declining pupil numbers, limited peer interaction, curriculum delivery challenges, and operational costs made closure the "most appropriate response."
However, the few parents with children still attending Dalry Secondary strongly oppose the proposal and are prepared to contest it at every stage.
"I will be here to the last day," said parent Sharon Currie, whose children Millie and Nairn currently attend the school and whose child Oakley is due to start in August. "They will not be pushed out. It makes me feel really sad and upset. The school's part of the community - I went through the school myself - it's just going to be a huge loss."
Dalry Secondary offers education for pupils from S1 to S4, after which students transfer to Castle Douglas High School, approximately 16 miles (25km) away, for S5 and S6.
Wednesday marked the final day before the summer holidays for the school's 13 remaining pupils, a number expected to decline further.
This occurred just one day after the council's decision to proceed with closure, a move that Sharon Currie has vowed to resist until the end.
"I hope the closure process could look at other options to maintain some kind of learning in the area," she added.
Sarah Ade, whose son Finn has just entered second year and will return after the holidays, expressed that the council had undermined the school over an extended period before proposing closure.
"It feels, at this point, kind of inevitable, very disappointing, but we've been fighting this battle for over two decades now," she said. "There's been managed decline on the part of the council for that length of time. Our communities and parents have been flagging up issues which should have been addressed all through that period."
She stressed that the issue extends beyond education, highlighting broader community implications observed with other primary school closures.
"A rural area is different," she insisted. "So we feel that we need to be treated that way, we need to have something made that's thinking outside the box. We need our councillors and our education officials to be seeing that and to not just say closure is the only option, but to say let's find out how we can make rural education work for you."
Concerns Over Consultation and Impact Assessment
Jan Burrows, who relocated to the area in 2018 and whose two children have already attended the school while his third child Joshua is currently in S2, voiced concerns about the consultation process and the absence of an impact assessment.
"I think only the parliamentary level can probably help us now," he admitted. "If they think about rural depopulation - which is a big issue on the agenda - closing a school like this certainly could contribute to rural depopulation. People may not move to this area if they have children of secondary school ages, some people may move out, so there's a lot of consequences."
Local Business Impact and Community Support
Local community members have also expressed support for the school. Jeremy Sainsbury, chairman of the Kells and New Galloway Community Council and director of renewable energy firm Natural Power, a significant local employer, highlighted challenges in attracting staff.
"As an employer, I will find it much more difficult - and am finding it much more difficult since the problems we've had with the secondary over a number of years - to actually get good quality employees to move here," he said. "And I'm sure the council won't like it very much if 80 of my employees leave here because I can't get the quality of employee that I need to continue the office here."
He expressed disappointment that the decision-making process appeared to be driven by the condition of the building rather than the best interests of the children.
"My big disappointment was that I felt the entire process had been driven by the building, not by what is good for the children."
The parents of the small number of children remaining at Dalry Secondary continue to hope the school can be preserved.
The council disputes the parents’ arguments, emphasizing the educational and social challenges associated with operating a school with such a small pupil population.
Several procedural steps remain before the school can be officially closed.
Louise Rae, the local authority's school estate specialist, informed councillors that public opinion will be a significant factor in the forthcoming decisions.
"There is still an opportunity for all stakeholders to be heard through the process," she said. "That could be via public meetings, surveys or contacting the council directly. There will be an opportunity for everyone's voice still to be heard."
Parents in Dalry are expected to hold some of the strongest views, and the outcome is likely to be closely observed by other small secondary schools throughout Scotland.
Procedures for Closing a Rural School in Scotland
The Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 outlines the required steps for closing a school.
For rural schools like Dalry, the local authority must first identify its reasons for closure and determine if closure is the most appropriate response.
The second phase involves a consultation on the proposal lasting a minimum of six weeks, including at least 30 school days.
Following this, Education Scotland prepares a report on the educational impact within a maximum of three weeks.
The local authority then publishes a consultation report. After at least three weeks, it makes a final decision and, if closure is decided, informs the Scottish government within six working days.
Ministers have up to eight weeks to decide whether to "call in" the proposal for further scrutiny.
If called in, a School Closure Review Panel reviews the case and has a maximum of 17 weeks to issue a verdict.
If consent is refused, no new attempt to close the school can be made within five years unless there is a "significant change" in circumstances.
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