The island split over where to build a new high school

Yahoo

27-02-2025

Residents on a Scottish island are facing an almost impossible dilemma as their council debates the location for a new multi-million-pound secondary school.
What should be a milestone of progress for the Isle of Mull's infrastructure has created tensions between the community and the local authority.
Parents in the north of the island want the new school to be built on the site of the current High School in Tobermory, in order to save their primary school.
But those in the south want a school closer to them so their children will no longer have to be sent to Oban - at the age of 11 - on the mainland, where they have to board in hostels during the week.
Argyll and Bute Council has shortlisted four options for the location of the new school, but has recommended the new school be built in Tobermory.
The local authority is expected to pause a vote on the location of the high school, which was scheduled for Thursday, until 7 March.
The isle of Mull is the fourth largest Scottish island and has an area of 338 square miles.
Currently, Mull's only high school is in Tobermory, the most populated town on the island, and encompasses a nursery and primary school.
But it is in a state of disrepair.
Many islanders are calling for the new school to be built in a more central location, such as Craignure, which is home to the main ferry port and the island's hospital.
This would would mean children from the Ross of Mull, who currently live out with Tobermory High School's catchment area, could attend school on the island.
At present, these children need to attend high school in Oban, on the Argyll mainland, and stay in a hostel during the week.
The council's preferred option is to build a replacement school in Tobermory but the "like-for-like" element of the funding means the island's capital would then lose its early years and primary provisions.
Many community members had hoped that a "split option" would be made available allowing a central high school to built as well a new primary school and nursery for the community of Tobermory, but the council says that is too expensive.
Marion MacLean lives in Tobermory and her two daughters currently attend the high school.
While the decision won't directly impact on her family, Marion feels this is the "one chance to get it right for every child that lives on the island".
While she feels its important not be "remiss of the feelings" of families in the Ross of Mull, she has concerns about the impact on the village she has called home all her life.
She told BBC Scotland News: "Tobermory can't lose it's primary school.
"It would have a huge impact on the businesses on the high street, and I think we would lose that community feel of having the children around the town during the day."
Four miles off the main road through the Ross of Mull is the village of Carsaig, which is home to Amy Simpson and her daughters Daisy, six, and Rosie, four.
Amy said that if the council's preferred option of a new school in Tobermory is selected she would feel forced to leave her village, when her kids reach secondary school age, rather than be separated from them if they had to board in Oban.
She added: "We love our life here, we have become an integral part of our community.
"We don't want to leave and we don't want to take our kids out of this community, this is where they were born and where they are growing up."
Fifty-miles south of Tobermory, a journey which takes around an hour and a half in a car due to the single track roads, is the village of Bunessan.
Rob Claxton-Ingham, who lives on a croft with his husband, said the future was uncertain as he doesn't know where his foster child will attend secondary school.
As things stand she faces travelling and boarding in Oban every week - like all children on the south of the island.
He told BBC Scotland News: "As a foster-carer, our child has faced separation and loss already from her birth family and has had to transition to us as her substitute carers
"The thought of her transitioning again at the age of 11 to a school, over the sea, where she has to get a ferry, where she won't get our day-to-day support, is hard."
Rob said high school has always been "an issue" for the community, and people have "learned to be as ok as they can be with it".
"But this situation is developing something new and it really hurts that Argyll and Bute council could develop something new and, actually while doing that plan, to continue excluding people at this end of the island," he added.
Rebekah MacLean and her four kids, also live in the village of Bunessan.
Her youngest children attend the local primary school, but for her secondary aged children things are a little bit more complicated.
She said: "For me, what I am seeking is equality across the island for all children whether that's primary age, early education or secondary students.
"One key aspect of that is the secondary school being centrally based, so all the children can attend and no child has to be put in the position of choosing between education and family."
Rebekah has managed to make arrangements with her son, Jude, 15, to stay with a family friend in Tobermory during the week so he is slightly closer to home, while her daughter, Acacia, 14, is home-schooled.
Jude is also in favour of a centrally-located school so that when it comes to his sibling's time to go to high school, they can stay at home and have a less uninterrupted education than him.
He said: "I do worry that because I have to travel so far, I have less time in school.
"I want to be an engineer, that requires straight A's.
"I worry I won't be able to get those because I have to travel so much and I'm maybe behind in class."
It is clear that the debate on where the new school should be built is an issue that in consuming islanders.
Everywhere you go, everyone has an opinion on it.
Argyll and Bute council said: "Building a new 2-18 campus on Mull is Argyll and Bute Council's single biggest investment estimated at £43m.
"Following extensive community engagement and detailed assessments, Councillors will consider a report recommending a preferred site on 27 February with a motion already tabled to hold a special meeting to consider the issue on 7 March."
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Consultation on new secondary school for Mull