Keighley campaigners are demanding Bradford education chiefs reveal their plans for the future of Bront Middle School.

Following an announcement at last week's education committee meeting at City Hall that the Bront site would continue to be used for education purposes, the school's supporters are urging Bradford council to make public their proposals.

This week the council said it was too early to say what would happen to the site.

As we reported last week, the council confirmed that though 'Bront Middle School' would close, the buildings would continue to be used 'for education'. But no more details were given by the council. The future of the school has been a massive controversy in the Keighley area, particularly among governors at Oakbank who want to absorb the buildings as a split-site school.

This plan follows the recent council go-ahead given for its education department's proposals to change from a three-tier schools structure to a primary-secondary model. The final proposals have now be sent to the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) for a decision - expected by the end of the year. Before then, objectors have two months in which to put their case to the DfEE.

Under the final proposals, Bront is due to close along with the town's other eight middle schools.

Keighley Education Action Group (KEAG) believes the council may still sell off the school's playing fields, while retaining the buildings. The school has four and a half acres of sports grounds on a site adjacent to the main two-and-a-half acre site. The fields are used by more than 200 local junior footballers and a cricket team as well as by Bront pupils. There are rumours the land will be developed for housing.

Val Wright, of KEAG, says: "The final proposals which Bradford sent to London contain no mention of Bront's future, other than as a possible holding school for Holycroft. I challenge councillors to tell us their plans for this purpose-built secondary school. Until they do, the people of Keighley are still in the dark."

Oakbank head John Roberts has echoed her call for the council to go public with its plans.

KEAG hopes to meet school standards minister Estelle Morris to put the case for the development of the Bront site into a secondary school to accommodate Keighley children. Otherwise, it is feared they would have to be educated outside the town.

A council spokesman said this week: "It has always been the intention to look at options for sites such as Bront Middle which are not needed for the final two-tier system of primary and secondary schools. We have stated publicly that what happens to sites would be determined by a number of factors, including transitional use, other education or council use and council priorities, including the need to raise capital. It is too early to say what will happen to any one site but members have indicated that they would like to see the Bronte Middle site used for education and officers are looking at options."

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