Lochgelly North Special School is to formally close its doors for good on October 7, councillors have agreed.
The McGregor Avenue school has been mothballed since it closed to the three remaining secondary pupils in July 2013, and was used to accommodate nursery pupils from January to October 2014 while the existing accommodation was refurbished to include a new extension at Lochgelly Sunflower Nursery.
All pupils with complex additional support needs within the Cowdenbeath and Lochgelly areas now attend Calaiswood School in Dunfermline, so that situation prompted the local authority to look at closing Lochgelly North to realise a net saving of just over £15,000 a year.
Councillors on the executive committee have now rubber-stamped that move, with a closure date of October 7 confirmed, and are now seeking alternative uses for the building.
Shelagh McLean, education and children’s services executive director, said: “Whilst we do recognise the challenge for pupils and parents when we decide to close any school and we don’t take that lightly, we do believe that this is the right decision in this case.”
The decision to shut the school comes after a public consultation was held between March and May and attracted just 12 responses, 11 of which voted on the question whether to retain or close the building.
Three supported the closure while eight people were against it, citing concerns including the cost of transport and the extra-long journey times for pupils, the impact of other school closures on the area’s existing schools, and the impact on Calaiswood School.
Local councillor Mark Hood said the school was already closed in the mind of the community, and said the focus locally had been on the future use of the building.
“Ideally we would like to see the building demolished as soon as possible to free up the land for other uses, and my personal view would be housing on that site,” he said.
“The last thing we want is a building in the centre of the community falling into a state of disrepair and us, from a council perspective, having to maintain that building.”
The school roll has dropped in recent years, from 13 in 2006/7 to just five in 2011/12 and then three the following year.
