Pupils in the Carse of Gowrie are facing a daily 40-mile round trip to Perth because of the imminent closure of a Dundee school.
This year Dundee City Council voted to close Menzieshill High School which many Carse children attend in August of next year.
While existing pupils will be transferred to nearby Harris Academy, Dundee councillors proposed that those moving from primary to secondary school would be placed at Baldragon Academy, on the other side of the city.
Instead, Perth and Kinross Council is proposing to bus children in Longforgan, Inchture and Abernyte to Perth High School.
At a meeting of the lifelong learning committee, councillors will vote on whether to formally start a consultation process.
A report due to go before councillors states: “Taking into account the fact that the Baldragon Academy is a further distance than Menzieshill High School, there would also be additional resource implications in terms of transport costs for Perth and Kinross Council in agreeing to Baldragon Academy being a designated secondary school for pupils living in Abernyte, Inchture and Longforgan, and there is no legal requirement for the council to agree to Perth and Kinross pupils being permitted to be educated in another local authority area; the council does not consider that Baldragon Academy should be offered as a designated secondary school for these pupils.
“It is therefore proposed to formally embark upon statutory consultation with regard to the proposal to vary the arrangements for the transfer of pupils from a primary school to a secondary school, or otherwise alter the catchment area for secondary school provision, by designating Perth High School as the only secondary school provision for pupils from Abernyte, Inchture and Longforgan Primary Schools from August 2016.
“The statutory consultation period is proposed to start on October 26 2015 and will run until 5pm on Tuesday December 8 2015.”
The consultation will see two public meetings, one in Longforgan and the other in Inchture. Carse of Gowrie councillor Mac Roberts said the move would mean shorter journey times for pupils.
He said: “We have to consult with the parents because Menzieshill is closing and we need to look at the options. The best option is Perth High.
“Menzieshill was quite a bit closer than Perth High but by the time you go to Baldragon, driving through the centre of Dundee, the time for travelling is more than to Perth. A lot of people want their children to go to Harris Academy but only those who currently go there can continue to do so because it doesn’t have the capacity.”