ANGRY parents accused Fife Council officials of “dodging” their questions during a public meeting to discuss controversial plans to close Pitcorthie Primary School.

Around 75 people gathered at Woodmill High School on Wednesday night to quiz four of the local authority’s top education officers on the proposals which have sparked widespread anger and a petition with just under 1000 signatures.

A presentation about the council’s need to make drastic savings from the education budget and information about Pitcorthie’s occupancy rate and building assessment was given to the parents by the council’s executive director of education, Ken Greer.

Mr Greer, alongside Donna Manson, head of education (West), Shelagh McLean, directorate resources manager, and Eleanor Macgregor, area education officer, were then grilled for more than two hours by the disgruntled crowd.

Catherine Shaw, a nine-year-old pupil at the school, best summed up the evening when she asked, “Why are you taking away our choice to go to Pitcorthie?” and received a thunderous applause from the adults in attendance.

That applause quickly turned to anger as several parents accused the panel of ignoring the young pupil’s question altogether and “skirting around” a number of other key issues.

Pitcorthie Primary School is one of three schools in West Fife, along with Crombie and Wellwood, that the council have earmarked for closure to plug holes in the budget. The council say it has been selected because of structural issues with the building.

But the school has one of the highest rolls in the area and parents have cast doubts over council claims that it will cost £800,000 to bring the building up to scratch.

Several parents told the meeting they had sent their children specifically to Pitcorthie because of its good reputation and were “dismayed” that it was closing when schools with weaker inspectorate scores were staying open.

Donna Manson said, “As a council, we don’t have the money to maintain the buildings that we have. We also have a lot of schools that have a number of vacant places in them.

"So what we have to do is take the number of schools we have and try to reduce them so we can keep those buildings in good condition.” After being accused of “skirting around” the issues, Shelagh McLean assured the group that all of their comments were being recorded as part of the public consultation which runs until 9th December.

Councillors will then vote on the proposals early next year.