A parents' action group has challenged education bosses to tell the truth about the sale of a school site.

Members of Oakbank Action Group want to know if there is any substance to reports that Bradford council has appointed a Keighley firm of estate agents to handle the sale of Bronte Middle School. The council rejects the claim.

Up to now the council has denied it has any definite plans for the site, which is due to close under the current schools review proposals.

At a public meeting last month, deputy director of education Roger Smith told Bronte parents he was unaware that surveyors had been seen on the site, as local residents say happened as long ago as last year.

Group member Carol Grice says: "This is terrible news if it's true. The review team has said all along that the proposal to shut the site was still a matter for consultation. Education bosses should come clean and let parents and teachers know what they are doing. If they have instructed estate agents then the whole process has been a sham.

"Jim Flood, the education committee chief, should tell us now whether they have put the site up for sale. It's our children's future they are playing with." One of the rumours is that estate agents McManus and Poole has been asked to sell the land at Bronte. Bill Poole, a partner in the firm, denies the claim.

A spokesperson for Bradford council's education department says: "There is absolutely no truth in this allegation. As we made very clear at the public meeting at Bronte Middle School no decisions have been taken on the future use of any school building because the consultation is still on-going. No decisions will therefore be taken until the education committee meeting on June 23."

Campaigners want to see Bronte used for secondary education as part of a split-site school with Oakbank. Govern-ors at both schools have submitted proposals to Bradford council which suggest using the Bronte campus for Key Stage Three pupils aged 11-13. That would mean around 750 pupils being taught on the Bronte site, with another 1200 pupils aged 13-18 educated on the current Oakbank campus.

The deadline for proposals to be submitted to Bradford council was last Friday, with decisions on the fate of each school due later this month.

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