MASTERTON Primary School parents have criticised Fife Council for a lack of long-term planning in resolving school capacity issues. 

Council officials have begun a series of consultations with West Fife parents to address looming capacity problems by taking the pressure off Woodmill High School. 

The council want either Masterton pupils to travel to Inverkeithing High School instead of Woodmill or Masterton pupils to attend Dunfermline High and Kings Road pupils relocate to Inverkeithing High School. 

Jonathan Habrovitsky has a son already at Dunfermline High and two children at Masterton Primary.

He told the Press: “I was disappointed with the results of the meeting, these options just seem like short- and medium-term options but we’re still going to have capacity issues in the long-term. 

“Parents feel that this was all predicted 10 years ago and now every couple of years we seem to be having to talk about capacity issues again, while they continue to just keep building.

“Inverkeithing is another town, they couldn’t address our questions over transport concerns and there are no cycleways or footpaths for our children to travel between the two places. 

“My son is in P7 and we do not know where he is going next year. Woodmill High are still doing transition activities with the class so the children are just totally confused!

“This doesn’t seem like a problem that is going to go away.”

The Press’ Action for Schools campaign, launched in January, has called for all parents, teachers, politicians, councillors, Fife Council and the Scottish Government to work together to tackle the problems in West Fife’s high schools. 

Woodmill High is due to reach capacity in August 2018, and the school is in need of replacement along with Inverkeithing High and St Columba’s High. 

The council has put £50 million aside for this but still needs a further £100 million from Scottish Government funding before any proposals can be progressed. 

Councillor Fay Sinclair, the council’s education and children’s services spokesperson, said: “The engagement event at Woodmill was well attended by parents and children.

“I had the opportunity to speak to several families and, while there are clearly concerns around changes to school catchments, I think the approach being taken is reassuring people that council officers, and the councillors who will ultimately make the decision, are taking local views into account.

“There are a number of further drop-in events planned and I would encourage as many people as possible to attend and make their views known, or access the information on the Fife Direct website.”

Douglas Chapman, MP for Dunfermline and West Fife, said: “I welcome Councillor Fay Sinclair’s action to have the council officers present a range of different options than those previously presented, which shows the council is listening to parents’ concerns.

“While it’s impossible to keep everyone happy, the reaction from parents I spoke to suggests that they appreciate that this is a difficult and complex issue but quite rightly want to put their children’s needs first. The proposals as presented offer a short-term solution to some of the challenges faced by the council in our area.

“But we all know that the only long-term solution is to replace our ageing high schools in West Fife – namely Woodmill, St Columba’s and Inverkeithing – to give us the capacity and new learning environments fit for this century.

“I’m continuing to press both the council and Scottish Government to bring forward funded proposals which would see these new schools built."