Parents urge council not to shut Scotland's smallest secondary

Image source, Graham Robson/ Geograph Image caption, Numbers have fallen steadily at the school By Giancarlo Rinaldi South Scotland reporter Published 29 June 2026 Updated 9 minutes ago Parents at Scotland's smallest secondary school have urged the local authority to reject plans for its closure. Dumfries and Galloway Council (DGC) is being recommended to start the process of shutting the site in Dalry. It has capacity for 248 pupils but only eight are expected to attend when the new school year starts in August. DGC's education committee is being advised to start the statutory process, involving a number of phases, which would lead to it being closed permanently. Get in touch What stories would you like BBC News to cover from the south of Scotland? Contact form Contact form Dalry Secondary provides education for S1 to S4 pupils before they transfer to Castle Douglas High School about 16 miles (25km) away for S5 and S6. It has been at the centre of a lengthy battle over its future. Parents celebrated a decision to halt the "mothballing" of any secondary school in the region in 2024. However, pupils numbers have continued to fall and the council has now come back - following a consultation - with plans to shut it for good. The school had 13 pupils in the 2025/26 academic year, but that number is forecast to fall to just eight as the majority of the pupils in the catchment area are sent elsewhere. A report argued that sending the remaining children to another secondary could "provide access to a wider curriculum, larger peer groups and more sustainable staffing structures". Parent Sarah Ade said the report did not take into account the council's commitment to support rural communities and avert rural depopulation. "Also it does not consider the managed decline of the school over the last two decades," she added. In a letter urging councillors not to start the closure process she said it "should not be an option for a remote rural school". "Other options should be imperative to carry out, not just point out," she said. She added that the community and parents wanted the school to go back to an "all-through" model from nursery to S4 or even S6. Ade also criticised the failure to consider amalgamating Dalry and Kells primaries to help increase pupil numbers. "These options should be the ones being chosen between - not discounted in favour of short-sighted financial gain through closure," she said. Image caption, Parent Sarah Ade said the council should not shut the school for "short-sighted financial gain" Anne McEwan, who chairs the parent council, said it was disappointed the recommendation for closure was being taken to councillors without any alternative proposals. "The future of rural education in Scotland needs to be considered in a different way to non-rural education," she said. "The current situation in Dalry gave DGC an opportunity to lead the way on what rural education can look like and be a real trailblazer. "Instead we are left with clos