Councillors agree to look into primary school closures
Councillors have agreed to carry out a consultation into whether to close three rural primary schools in Dumfries and Galloway.
Garlieston, Kirkbean and Ae schools have 35 pupils between them, but have a combined capacity of nearly 200.
At a committee meeting today, recommendations to look into whether the schools have a future were approved by councillors.
Over the coming months Dumfries and Galloway Council and Education Scotland will each consult with interested parties, including local people, and their findings will then be presented to the committee.
If councillors then decide the schools should be closed, their doors could shut for the final time as early as July 2018.