A 30 million-plus plan to develop a new Harris Academy are set to move forward on Monday, when the city council's education committee is asked to approve the establishment of a project board.

The body would assist in the production of a design solution that would deliver a building to meet both modern educational needs and Historic Scotland's criteria.

City council education convener Cllr Liz Fordyce said: "This project board proposal is yet another example of the efforts we are making to ensure that our largest secondary has a building fit for education in the 21st century.

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"The scale and complexity of the task means that we need the project board to begin its work from next January.

"Project boards have worked successfully in the development of new schools across Dundee and I think that the input of parent council members is especially important.

"We want to make sure that the new Harris Academy meets all the many demands of a busy secondary school, enabling staff and pupils to look forward to the future with confidence.

"I am keen that the new Harris Academy can meet and surpass educational challenges in a way that, quite frankly, is not possible in the current building. The creation of a project board is an extremely important step towards this, as it would draw on a wide range of expertise."

The board, which would be chaired by the chief executive, would include the education convener and ward councillors, the director of education, council chief architectural officer, head teacher and two parent council members.

A teacher union representative would also sit alongside the board along with other council officers and members of the council's capital projects team.

(GK)