Parents 'angry' as Milngavie Primary School refurb postponed

East Dunbartonshire Council agreed in 2021 that Milngavie Primary School would undergo a full refurbishment due to the state of the building which has ‘water dripping from the ceilings, mushrooms growing inside the building and black mould growing on the windows’. 

However, parents now don’t know when this will occur as they have been told the cost has "increased dramatically" and become "unaffordable" for the council.   

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Mushrooms in the staff bathroom (Image: Supplied)

Karen Reid, head of the Milngavie Primary Parent Council, says the school is currently "not a safe, healthy learning environment".

She said: "The state of the building is having an impact on kid’s mental health because it’s stressful.  

"One parent told us their child feels quite distracted by the constant dripping. 

"The school is performing so well but the environment is inadequate."

Mandy McCormick, vice chair, added: "I felt really sad and disappointed because we were able to put up with some of the smaller issues knowing it was going to be sorted and now we just feel quite angry."

(Image: Robert Perry)

In 2013, parents were involved in a campaign to keep the school open after it was threatened with closure and since then there have been discussions between the council and Parent Council on how the building, which first opened in 1875, can be repaired.  

In 2019 the Parent Council had an independent survey of the building done which found the work needed to be "substantial", with the council agreeing in 2021 that it would undergo a complete refurbishment with pupils decanted to another site during it.  

However, despite money being spent on plans it is not known when it will go ahead, with Mandy, 36, saying the school is "in a complete state of disrepair".  

She said: "In the intervening time between when the refurbishment was initially proposed [and now] there has been no work done to the school.  

"So, all the repairs have been temporary."

She continued: "Parents are hugely concerned that their small, infant children are sitting in classrooms where there’s water coming in on their head, there’s mushrooms on bathroom walls and they’re walking through halls covered in mould."

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(Image: Supplied)

Other issues Karen and Mandy highlighted include ceiling tiles coming down, water dripping into buckets in several classrooms, toilets flooding constantly with a member of staff even having to stand by the door in case a child slips on the floor, and windows painted shut meaning there’s no ventilation.  

They also said in 2019 a drainpipe fell off the building into the playground, though thankfully no one was there at the time, young children find "dark holes" in the ceiling scary, children are constantly moved to avoid drips, they come home smelling of damp and some have been burned on the radiators because they are so hot.  

Another parent has also said their son has had to use his inhaler every day since starting primary one which they believe is due to breathing in mould and damp. 

Water damage (Image: Supplied)

Both Karen, 47, and Mandy also have children who are already in secondary school and say many of the issues were ongoing throughout their time at the primary school.  

The council said it would spend £300,000 carrying out repairs over the summer holidays, which they say appears to amount to pieces of plywood having been nailed over patches of mushrooms and mould, with the water already coming around it.

We previously reported the council is to write to the Scottish and Westminster governments to request additional funds to refurbish Milngavie and Bearsden primary schools and rebuild Balmuidy Primary in Bishopbriggs.  

Damp on walls (Image: Supplied)

Ann Davie, chief executive of East Dunbartonshire Council said: "Milngavie Primary School refurbishment project progressed to the pre-construction phase with a full costing exercise and revised tendered costs completed and reported to Council on Wednesday, August 21.

"Both UK inflation and global construction industry costs have increased substantially in recent years and the updated cost for the project, including costs of borrowing, have now greatly exceeded the initial estimate.

"This combined with the ongoing challenging financial situation that local government is facing, means it is not affordable at this time to progress to the construction phase.

"The project will now be paused - as decided at Council - until such times as either the Council’s revenue budget can support the high level of additional borrowing, or the capital settlement is increased to a level that would support the inclusion of the project within our capital programme.

"In the meantime, officers have been working through an agreed list of temporary cost-effective remedial works and this list is currently being reviewed with the intention of undertaking more permanent repairs until such times as the full refurbishment project can be progressed.

"These works include repairs to the roof on both the upper and lower school buildings.

"Despite significant efforts over the first half of the year to repair the roofs, each building continues to experience localised water ingress during periods of heavy rainfall.

"Additional surveys are being carried out to identify how this can be further prevented, and officers are also assessing options and costs for the replacement of both roofs which will be reported to Council as soon as possible."

A spokesperson for The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) added: "The EIS has been working closely with members and East Dunbartonshire Council in the interest of maintaining safe health and safety standards in schools.  

"Action must be taken to ensure that all buildings are well-designed, properly built and soundly maintained to an extremely high standard.  

"The safety, health and wellbeing of pupils and staff must be the top priority. This is not an area where corners or costs should ever be cut."