Dumfries and Galloway parents fear small and rural schools are being “set up to fail” by the council.
And parent councils are now joining forces to safeguard the futures of their schools.
The local authority is looking to reconfigure the schools estate amid falling rolls, with a number of buildings operating below capacity.
But parents believe the sustainability criteria being used unfairly targets rural schools.
They are also unhappy that a recent budget consultation included options to enforce the policy of mothballing schools with 10 pupils or less, as well as changing the threshold to 25 pupils.
Franziska Weir of Kirkgunzeon Primary Parent Council, said: “These schools were meant to be small and support our communities. Now, they’re using criteria that essentially set them up to fail so they can funnel money into urban projects.
“This isn’t just poor policy – it’s a knife in the heart of rural Dumfries and Galloway.”
At December’s education committee, councillors agreed to receive a report in the spring looking at which schools will be reviewed in the first phase of options appraisals.
School sustainability scores were also presented – but parents are unhappy with how they were reached.
Mhairi Watkins from Colvend Primary Parent Council, said: “We believe the criteria is deeply flawed and essentially has been designed to make small and rural schools unsustainable.
“One of the points is does the school have less than three classes. Another criteria is does it have less than three full-time equivalent teachers.
“If you have less than three classes, you’ll have less than three full-time equivalent teachers, so you’re being marked down twice.
“Lots of our small rural schools are in partnerships and across the partnerships there will be more than three full-time equivalent teachers but that is specifically excluded.
“The reason they say three full-time equivalents is the teachers need to have a professional learning community but they can have that across the partnership. It’s the same head teacher and they might have five or six teachers across the partnership.
“This is being presented as no other option but to close these schools to save money, but of course there are other options – and they are making choices to disadvantage rural communities.”
Nicola Sheldon and her family moved from Berkshire in south east England to Kippford last year due to Colvend Primary.
She explained: “We had a horrible situation down south where the schools couldn’t accommodate my son’s additional needs.
“Colvend is literally the perfect environment for him, so we were willing to do quite a lot to get him in.
“For my son I think it would be the difference between him being able to attend school and not being able to attend.
“The beauty of small schools is that children with neurodiversities thrive in the quiet environments. He’s able to attend with very minimal additional support because the environment is so good to start with.
“He’s not the only kid with additional needs and it’s a bit short notice to think they’ll be making massive cost savings when they move kids into a larger school and then they need to provide lots more additional support to enable them to do as well, because that can get quite pricey.”
A council spokesman said: “The budget consultation process is now at the analysis stage and elected members will make decisions on the council budget in the new year. This will be done through the committee process, that is publicly available to view and reports accessible via our council website.
“Our council has a responsibility to provide the best learning environments possible for all our learners, from early learning settings right through to senior phase at secondary school, and this responsibility is one we take very seriously. As a council, we will not shy away from this.
“It is no secret that school roll numbers are decreasing, in line with population statistics for the region as a whole. It is our job as the local authority to ensure we are meeting the needs of our learners as best we can to support them through their educational journey.
A petition launched by parents in a bid to gather support for their schools can be found at www.weeschoolsmatter.org