5 May request: the initial evidence behind the proposal SECONDARY-SOURCE TRANSCRIPT Reproduced from the campaign’s retained press briefing and FOI evidence pack, pages 9–10. The body gives the request timestamp as 5 May 2026 at 10:28; the response date is unverified. The June response identifies the preceding request as IR 43081. The original council response file has not been recovered. Council redactions are retained. Email addresses and telephone numbers have been removed from this public transcript where present. Text extraction may omit image-only content and alter table alignment; gaps are not evidence that an original page was blank. --- SOURCE PDF PAGE 9 --- Banchory-Devenick School - Press Briefing and FOI Evidence Pack - Prepared by Kevin Forbes [Campaign compilation heading omitted: it labels 5 May as a response date. The body below identifies this as the request date.] Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 ("The Act") We refer to your request dated 05/05/2026 10:28, for the following information requesting details around Banchory-Devenick School. We confirm that the Council holds the following information, which we believe satisfies your request. 1. Options Appraisal and Internal Decision-Making The full options appraisal referenced in the Committee report (January 2026) All reports, briefing papers, and presentations submitted to: Education & Children's Services (ECS) Leadership Team Senior Leadership Team (SLT) Any internal documents or communications which consider or recommend the permanent closure of Banchory-Devenick School For question 1 points 1 to 3, documents are attached as Appendix 1. Minutes and notes from meetings where the future of the school was discussed Parents meeting can be found on our engage page https://engage.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/banchory-devenick-school There was a report relating to Banchory-Devenick School included on the agenda of the Education and Children's Services Committee meeting held on 26 March 2026. The report is publicly available and can be accessed via the following link (Item 9): https://aberdeenshire.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=153&MId=8653&Ver=4 Please note that the minute of this meeting has not yet been approved by the Committee. However, the draft minute from that meeting is available to view (Item 3) at the following link: https://aberdeenshire.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=153&MId=8400&Ver=4 2. Financial Information Detailed breakdown of the estimated £530,000 works, including itemised costs Any cost-benefit analysis comparing: Repair/refurbishment of the existing school Closure and redistribution of pupils Any modelling of long-term financial savings associated with closure This will be prepared for the statutory consultation document and is not available at this time. Transport cost estimates associated with relocating pupils Current costs for the routes as per below: Route to Lairhillock - £152.99 per day Route to Fishermoss - £87.87 per day Route to Hillside - £87.87 per day These are for the current temporary contracts ending this term. They will be retendered over summer for long term contacts until 2029 (unless anything happens to terminate early) so those costs will not be known until possibly July as we haven't done the tender yet. 3. Building Condition and Technical Reports Full condition surveys relating to the school building Technical reports relating to: Boiler condition and lifespan Flue deterioration Oil tank and pipework compliance Electrical systems Roof condition Any independent or external assessments commissioned For all information relating to question 3 please find attached as Appendix 2. 4. Educational Impact and Justification Any documents, analysis or reports assessing the educational impact of closure This will be assessed and will be part of the forthcoming statutory consultation documentation which will be shared with all stakeholders in due course. Comparative data on educational outcomes between Banchory-Devenick School and proposed receiving schools We have completed a full search for this information and can confirm that this information is not held. Any assessment of the impact on: Attainment Attendance Wellbeing --- SOURCE PDF PAGE 10 --- Banchory-Devenick School - Press Briefing and FOI Evidence Pack - Prepared by Kevin Forbes Additional support needs We have completed a full search for this information and can confirm that this information is not held. 5. Pupil Numbers and Projections All data and modelling used to project future pupil rolls Any assumptions underpinning projections (including housing, migration, placing requests, etc.) You can view our published 2025 based school roll forecasts here: https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/schools/school-info/admissions/school-roll-forecasts/ The webpage also explains what information is used to prepare the forecasts. Please note, these are 2025 based and we use a live forecast which keeps up to date information about pupil movement, any changes to housing build out rates etc, to allow us to respond in real time to situations. We prepared live forecasts for the drop in session on the 14th May which included the movement of Banchory- Devenick pupils to the different schools within the cluster and Lairhillock School. Please note these were shared at the public drop in session. 6. Transport and Accessibility Any transport impact assessments undertaken School Transport send details of all current contracts to the Learning Estates team for their consideration, as well as information on what requirements would be for new transport and estimated costs. Estimated journey times (door-to-door) for affected pupils Route to Lairhillock - estimated total journey time 30 mins Route to Fishermoss - estimated total journey time 14 mins Route to Hillside - estimated total journey time 10 mins School transport policy for Primary pupils is they can travel for a maximum of 45 minutes, so these are all well within the guidelines. Road safety assessments relating to proposed route? They do not safety assess every school transport route unless required. The operator will do a safety assessment and if they have any concerns will make us aware so we can also do an assessment and find a suitable alternative if required. If a parent / member of the public has a concern they can also raise this with us directly so we can have a safety assessment undertaken by the road safety team. 7. Integrated Impact Assessment The full Integrated Impact Assessment (Appendix 1 referenced in the Committee report), including all supporting analysis The IIA in the committee report, which is publicly available and can be accessed via the following link (Item 9): https://aberdeenshire.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=153&MId=8653&Ver=4 was completed when it was expected that a school within a school would be the temporary solution. This will be updated as part of the formal statutory consultation in due course. 8. Alternative Options Any documents identifying, assessing, or rejecting alternatives to closure This will be assessed and will be part of the forthcoming statutory consultation documentation which will be shared with all stakeholders in due course. Evidence demonstrating how the Council has complied with its duty to give special regard to viable alternatives in relation to a rural school This will be assessed and will be part of the forthcoming statutory consultation documentation which will be shared with all stakeholders in due course. Please contact me as the officer responsible for responding to your request if you have any further queries. If, for any reason, you are not satisfied with this response, please refer to the further information below. Yours faithfully