Highland councillors asked to agree to £9m for school expansion work in Culloden
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Up to £9million of additional funding has been found to secure cash for Culloden Academy.
The proposal, due to be included in council papers this week, will see enough cash in the budget to build the classrooms necessary for its projected pupil numbers in 2028, rather than falling short with the cash that had been put aside for the build.
The school is currently 20 per cent over its 964-pupil capacity and fears were being raised that a 2023 deadline and £7.5 million budget, had been moved to at least 2025 with a £7.718 million budget, with councillors believing it would rise to many millions more.
If supported by the council, the budget for the school will now be in the region of £16/17 million.
Lib Dem councillors Trish Robertson, Culloden and Ardersier ward, and Carolyn Caddick, Inverness South, have been working with officers on a plan to use an allocation from the council's budget underspend to meet the cost pressures of building a school for the growing population.
Thousands of houses are due to be built in the school catchment area over the coming years, including a new town at Tornagrain of up to 5000 homes over 30 years.
It is understood that in papers for councillors it will be outlined that while there is funding for investment in the current capital programme, it will not be sufficient to meet the school capacity in August 2023.
Therefore, a budget increase of between £8/9million will be required to meet the additional cost of phase two allowing the school to meet the needs of the school population.
It is understood that there will also be a discussion in the council papers for other schools that need funding.
Cllr Robertson said: "It has become clear over recent weeks that the funding available for extension works to Culloden Academy are insufficient. The school is currently 20 per cent over capacity with an increasing pupil roll and is becoming unsustainable.
"This school needs urgent attention to provide what was promised in 2018 and further to provide a school environment that can accommodate the students into the future."
She added: "We are asking for support from across the council that it undertakes and commits to identifying and providing the funding necessary, to ensure that the Culloden Academy Extension Project is progressed to be completed by 2024 to provide the learning environment needed to prepare our young people for their future.
"This is great news for Culloden and for the people of the city. We were building a school that would not have met the growing population in the area, and we will be able to include a much community assets.
"We have worked very hard to bring this deal to the table, and we want to have broad support from across the council.
"Culloden is under the greatest pressure for numbers and we will work with other schools to deliver what they need. But at present the most pressure is on Culloden."
It is understood, that if agreed by councillors at the full council meeting on June 24, that the funding will, amongst other things, provide extra specialist classrooms for the arts and sciences.
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