Parents of school children in Dunfermline and West Fife will get their say on school catchment area changes after councillors refused recommendations to proceed to a full statutory consultation on re-zoning. 

Instead councillors on the newly formed Education and Children’s Services Committee today agreed to undertake a more detailed round of parental engagement.

This means the process will be extended for more engagement and will give parents a chance to see different options for catchment re-zoning.

Education chiefs want to change the boundaries to address looming capacity problems caused by a housing boom in Dunfermline and West Fife. 

The most immediate problem is Woodmill, which is expected to be full by August 2018. 

The solution is to reduce the size of its catchment area so children will go to the other three high schools, although this could lead to an extra 600 pupils going to Queen Anne. 

The council also want to tackle primary school catchment “anomalies” and situations where children in the same or neighbouring communities are in the catchment for different high schools. 

Committee Convener Councillor Fay Sinclair Sinclair said: “We are concerned that by proceeding to a statutory consultation with this one option communities would feel they were not being given a choice. We want to be able to explain fully what the options are and why others may have been discounted by officers. Further engagement sessions will allow parents the chance to look carefully at any other options available and put forward their views on them.”

However, councillors were warned that any delay would mean parents wouldn’t know which school their children would be attending until March 2018. Enrolment for S1 intake in August usually begins in January and is finished by the start of March.

Cllr Sinclair continued: “We understand that today’s decision will prolong that uncertainty for parents, but we’d rather make sure that the right decision is made and that parents are given all the information they need, to make an informed decision when we proceed to formal consultation at a later date.”