Education chiefs have set a date for the closure of the region’s smallest school.
Blairingone Primary has been earmarked for the chop as part of a wide-ranging estates shake-up.
It was targeted by Perth and Kinross Council officers because of its tiny roll, with just five pupils attending and no new-starts enrolled this year.
The plan, to close Blairingone and move pupils to Fossoway Primary seven miles away, angered parents and local residents who say the school is a vital part of their community.
The council has now set the ball rolling on a consultation exercise, to give the public a chance to have a final say on plans for closure.
If approved, the school will close at the end of June, next year. It is proposed that pupils will decamp to Fossoway from July 1.
Two public meetings will be held next month, with dates and venues to be announced shortly.
The consultation period will run until October 5. A report will be brought back to councillors afterwards.
A similar exercise will be held for the already-mothballed Greenloaning School. It is also due to close on June 28, 2019.
The proposals come just days after councillors agreed to push ahead with the closure of Abernyte Primary, due to its dwindling pupil numbers.
It was also revealed that the next stage of the five-year estates review will turn the spotlight on Cleish, Grandtully, Logierait and Ruthvenfield primaries, as well as Pitlochry High School.
Local SNP MSP Roseanna Cunningham said: “This further step down the road towards permanent closure for Blairingone and Greenloaning primary schools will be noted with some trepidation by those further communities – including Cleish and Ruthvenfield in my constituency – who are facing the loss of their local school.”
Closure plans for Blairingone were agreed in May, despite opposition from some councillors.
Independents Xander McDade and Mike Barnacle moved against the plan, saying the school should be kept open because new housing would lead to an increase in pupil numbers.
The lifelong learning committee, which heard that new homes at Blairingone were likely to attract retired people rather than young families, voted 9-5 in favour of moving to wider consultation.
