A scathing report prepared by concerned parents at Kinross Primary has detailed the school’s failing structure.
The 1960s building is one of two schools in line to be replaced, depending on the outcome of an independent study being commissioned by Perth and Kinross Council.
As far back as 2006, inspectors for HMIE in an otherwise positive report noted the poor condition of the school building.
They commented that “insufficient attention had been given to the maintenance of the school building for a number of years”.
The Kinross Primary Parent Council believes that little has changed since then, despite raising a number of concerns with the local authority.
Its report was prepared by parents, using information sourced from the council and their own experiences of the school.
They found that, despite being in service for just 45 years, the building is in a poor state of repair and has, in fact, been assessed as “life expired”, meaning that while it is not considered unsafe, it is no longer fit for purpose.
Parents said there had been concerns over falling plasterboard, the condition of toilets, leaks in ceilings and widespread damp, as well as questions over the use of temporary structures for teaching.
They have also questioned the quality of maintenance at the school, pointing to the use of dehumidifiers, patchwork repairs and even strategically-placed buckets around the building.
The parent council members outlined their fears that Kinross Primary was being failed in terms of maintenance.
The council said the efforts it had required to make in order to get work done and the time taken to have it completed had “created a perception with parents which we are sure is not intended that the efforts had been half hearted and that Kinross was not a priority”.
Local councillor Willie Robertson said: “Many of the schools built in the 1960s were pretty bad and had a number of flaws.
“Kinross Primary certainly falls into that category and is quite clearly past its sell-by-date. I know it has been forced to make use of temporary classrooms for years, which is frankly not acceptable,” he added.
The council is currently investigating the need for futher improvement works at the school.
Picture by Phil Hannah