A late decision which gives more than 6,000 children across Perth and Kinross an extra day off school during the Ryder Cup has caused widespread anger among parents.
Blaming fears of a possible conflict between the school run and traffic heading to the golf event, the additional in-service day for teachers means parents are faced with having to hastily arrange childcare and foot the bill for September 25.
The lack of warning was described as “a shambles” by one parent.
“This is going to cause problems for lots of parents,” said the woman, who learned of the additional day in a school newsletter on Friday. “Communication has been poor.”
Shona Kilgour, chairwoman of AlythPrimary Parent Council, said she had heard of the day on “the grapevine” and hadconfirmed it via the council’s website.
“Childcare is a problem for many but, in this instance, the issue for me is more around communication,” she said. “This is fairly short notice for some and the need for an additional day has not yet been explained to us. Is it a one-off?
“As parents, there are many times where we have to make hasty arrangements for the care of a child who is sick or otherwise unable to attend school. When it is possible to plan, as much notice as possible will always be appreciated.”
She questioned why a decision could not have been taken earlier as an existing in-service day had already been moved toFriday September 26 to accommodate any clash with the Ryder Cup.
“If the additional one also relates to that then it is hard to see why the decision for two days couldn’t have been made at the same time,” she said.
She added there was to be a meeting of the chairs of the parent councils next month where she could raise the issue.
Other parents asked why the closure had to be across the board and include schools far from any possible traffic snarl-upsassociated with the Ryder Cup.
The council said it had only been made aware that an extra in-service day was available to them in late June and the holidays had played a role in delaying relaying the news, with headteachers requiring to be informed first.
“In an attempt to ensure there wasminimal, unavoidable disruption for pupils,parents, transport and catering arrangements it was agreed the additional in-service day would be added on to the previously announced day on September 26,” said a council spokesman.
“This was selected at the request of the Ryder Cup Executive Group to support travel arrangements during the event.
“Once the date was agreed it was announced as quickly as possible after the school term began. We apologise for any inconvenience that may be caused by this additional in-service day.”
MSP Liz Smith said: “It is vital that parents are given advance notice of in-service days and good communication is clearly important for working families to plan time off work or arrange childcare.
“I hope that Perth and Kinross Council will review the protocols regarding in-service days and look to make sure parents are provided with as much notice as possible.”