Glass and three other Aberdeenshire nursery schools to be subject of emergency meeting
An emergency full council meeting has been called to discuss halting plans to close Glass and three other nursery schools in rural Aberdeenshire.
Glass, which is allied to the village’s primary school, faces being ‘mothballed’ for at least two years come the end of this summer term. However a special meeting of all councillors will now take place on Monday, June 9, to revisit its future along with those of the nurseries at Crossroads, Ballogie and Sandhaven.
The meeting has been called by 18 SNP councillors as well as three Independents.
Also on the agenda will be the question of whether council officers should keep their recently delegated powers to decide whether an educational facility can be closed or mothballed.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Alexander Burnett, the Scottish Conservative MSP for Aberdeenshire West, said: “I hope the emergency council meeting will result in these plans being dropped, or at the very least, a full and thorough public consultation takes place to ensure these communities are properly heard
“On Wednesday, I will be raising the issue directly with the education secretary, asking her to immediately instruct the council to hold a public consultation as per national guidance, which I hope will help take these damaging plans off the table.
“Rural nurseries like these are crucial, not just in preparing children for school by providing high quality care, but in supporting working parents, especially mothers.
“Closing rural education settings without adequate replacements will create a situation where families are going to add thousands of miles to their yearly journeys, as well as resulting in rural depopulation.”
A petition to save Glass Nursery was set up in the wake of the mothballing plan which was announced at the end of March just as it was breaking up for Easter.
The online document was created by parents as well as other locals worried about the knock-on effects the closure would have on both the primary school and the village in general.
It currently has 438 signatures.
The nursery, which has the capacity to look after 16 young pupils, currently has just five.
However the year before it had 14, and supporters have stated the number could easily rise again in the near future.
