EDUCATION bosses will next week reveal plans to close more schools in Edinburgh.
The axe is expected to fall on four primary schools this time round, though the list may also include a city high school.
This latest round of school closures will follow the council's decision last year to close Westburn, Bonnington and Lismore p
rimaries, and opposition politicians are already planning their response.
Susan Edwards, chairwoman of Victoria Primary in Newhaven – which was taken off the list at the last minute during the previous round of closure announcements – said it was a worrying time for all schools that were on the council's original hit-list.
She said: "Because they took us off the list last time, fingers crossed, they will look elsewhere.
"I do feel that the schools don't get a proper hearing. Once the council has made up its mind, then that's it."
In August 2007, the city council announced its controversial proposals to close 13 primaries, three secondaries and six nurseries.
The plans were scrapped after protests, but parents knew it was only a matter of time before the council's axe was wielded again.
This time round, education chiefs are announcing closures piecemeal, in order to prevent a repeat of 2007.
The three secondary schools that faced closure last time round were Castlebrae Community High School, Drummond Community High School and Wester Hailes Education Centre, and it is hoped these will not be on the next list.
Councillor Ricky Henderson, Labour's education spokesman, said he did not see any need for secondary schools to be closed.
He said: "The three high schools that were identified last time have different issues and serve a very important role.
"Closing any one of those three would send the signal that the council was abandoning those communities and the support they need and the identity they have.
"I do think that closing a high school in areas that have wider social problems and deprivation would be a mistake."
The city's Green councillors have written to all parent council chairs in the city to highlight their opposition to closing schools purely for financial reasons.
The Greens believe that the council's figures, which say that there are 9,000-surplus places in primaries, are over-inflated and that school closures on a large scale would be counter-productive as the population of primary-aged children is set to rise by 20 per cent by 2020.
Councillor Alison Johnstone, the Green education spokeswoman, said: "There are occasions when the community accepts that a school is no longer viable and that the education of the children is best-served by going to another school. But that is quite different from a larger-scale programme of closures."
A spokesman for the city council declined to go into detail on the proposals but added: "Our figures are updated regularly and they are accurate."
