Council chiefs have been urged to take urgent action to avoid a bitter clash for cash that could set two Perth and Kinross communities at each other’s throats.
Deteriorating and outdated, despite being little more than 50 years old, both Tulloch Primary and Kinross Primary have reached the end of their lives.
Funding currently exists to replace just one of the schools, however, with an independent review under way to decide whose need is the greatest.
A lukewarm response from the Scottish Government to a call for additional funding appears to have dashed hopes that more money will be readily available.
Now the local authority has been told it must gear up to fight for the cash to ensure the two communities do not find themselves at loggerheads.
Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Liz Smith is urging the council to prepare a bid to the Government for the money to replace both schools as a matter of urgency.
“I do not want to see one community set against another when it comes to which school merits a replacement,” she said.
“I believe early discussion between the council and Scottish Government can deliver a joint bid to replace both schools.”
The Minister for Learning, Science and Scotland’s Sciences, Alasdair Allan MSP, indicated there has already been significant investment in the school estate within Perth and Kinross and said it was uncertain whether additional funds will be available in the near future.
The two school families including staff, parents, councillors and politicians are, however, keen to avoid an outcome that would force the schools into a competition.
Together with urging a joint bid, Ms Smith has also invited SNP ministers to visit Perth and Kinross so that local leaders can make the case for money from the next round of Scottish Government schools building funding.
She said: “I have written to the minister to thank him for the positive approach he has taken and invited him to come to Perthshire and Kinross-shire to visit both schools to see at first hand the need to replace both schools, as well as meeting with Perth and Kinross Council when they can put the case forward and share the independent review of the buildings.
“I hope the meeting will present an early opportunity to make the case to SNP ministers for financing to help fund a joint bid to replace both primary school buildings.
“It is clear that in both Kinross and Tulloch primary schools will need to be replaced and that this need is pressing in both cases. I hope both will be able to be progressed to benefit the pupils and teachers in both communities.”
The Scottish Government is currently taking forward a £1.25 billion school building programme to tackle the very worst conditions in schools.
Perth and Kinross Council was awarded funding of £2.5 million through phase one of the programme for the replacement in Invergowrie Primary, which opened to pupils in October last year.
In addition, the council has been awarded around £15m through phase three for the creation of an entirely new secondary school.
The council has itself invested heavily in its school estate and continues to do so to ensure that it is one of the best in the country.
The hugely ambitious Investment in Learning programme has seen tens of millions spent on replacing outdated primary schools, particularly those of CLASP construction and creating impressive community campuses.