Council urged to explore community uses for vacant Skeld school
A WEST Mainland councillor has called for Shetland Islands Council to explore alternative community uses for the vacant Skeld primary school building.
The school, which was mothballed in 2024, remains empty – with no plans to re-open it at present.
Councillors agreed this morning (Wednesday) to carry out an options appraisal into the future of the school after no enrolment forms were returned for the 2026/27 academic year.
The council said there were 11 children of primary school age in the Skeld catchment area in August 2026.
A letter was sent to parents and carers earlier this year to ask if they would enrol their children if the Skeld school was re-opened.
But chief education officer Fiona Robertson said that no enrolment forms were returned by the 15 March deadline.
A total of 12 pupils – 20 per cent of the school’s 60-pupil capacity – would have needed to have enrolled for the SIC to consider re-opening Skeld.
With no enrolment forms being returned for a second year running, Shetland Islands Council asked councillors on Wednesday whether they should carry out an options appraisal into the future of Skeld school.
Options will include keeping the school mothballed, re-opening the school, closing it permanently or “any other reasonable alternative”.
West Mainland councillor Liz Peterson, who fought strongly for the Skeld school to remain open in 2024, said she would like to see the building continue to be used to support the community.
She said it had been suggested to her that Skeld school could be used to support children with complex support needs, or as a childcare facility for the West Side.
But SIC chief executive Maggie Sandison said they could not begin to think about potential community uses just yet.
“Whilst the building is a school building it will not be possible to look at it for other uses,” she said.
“We need to go through a process of considering, is this school to remain a school?
“Then after that there’s lots of other options around community asset transfer, around reuse, and disposal of the building.
“We need to move to that phase of deciding it’s no longer part of the school estate first.”
When it was decided to mothball Skeld there were four primary pupils and two in the nursery. Pupils transferred to Aith Junior High School.
However a petition against mothballing attracted more than 500 signatures.
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