, , All the region’s schools were shut during the three-day strike actionBy Giancarlo RinaldiSouth Scotland reporter, BBC Scotland news website
Council chiefs in Dumfries and Galloway were warned about the prospect of a blanket school closure four days before last week’s strike action, according to a new report.
Some parents were only given half a day’s notice of the shutdown.
A council report said concerns about keeping any schools open were raised on the afternoon of Friday, 22 September.
However, it was only after an emergency meeting the following Monday that it was agreed to shut all schools.
Dumfries and Galloway Council has apologised to parents for the impact of its late decision ahead of the three-day strike by Unison members from 26 to 28 September.
An urgent report into how events unfolded has now been tabled.
Read more stories from the south of ScotlandListen to news for Dumfries and Galloway
It details how parents at 40 schools were told on the Friday that their schools would be closing with 19 partially shut and 48 remaining open.
However, it said that on the same day its facilities services department was made aware of an increase in newly-registered Unison members among non-teaching staff like cleaners, janitors and caterers.
These concerns were passed to the head of education but the report said it was not until after an emergency meeting three days later that the full scale of the issue emerged.
It identified a further 50 schools where it was no longer possible to ensure safe operation.
Among the concerns was the impact on children with special diets which are categorised as “risk to life”.
There was also a “significant risk” of pupils arriving on the Tuesday morning and finding out their schools were shut.
The report added that the council did “everything it could” to keep its sites open in line with national guidance.
It has already said it will learn lessons from how it handled the situation.
Do you have an idea for a story we could cover? Email our local reporters: [email protected] or [email protected]
