The proposal to shut St George's RC High, in Walkden, was considered by the council for a second time after a town hall scrutiny committee had voted against it.
And at a meeting of the full council, members voted 30-17 for closure.
All Tory and Liberal Democrat councillors voted against it. The five Labour councillors who voted `No' included the former mayor of Salford, Bernard Pennington, who is also chair of governors at Harrop Fold High, which is next to St George's.
The cabinet at the Labour-controlled council will now rubber stamp the proposal, which is part of a é110m scheme to improve and rebuild schools across the city under the government's Building Schools for the Future programme.
The scheme will then go for final consideration to the Department for Education and Skills. The only routes now open to those campaigning to save the school is for the case to be considered by an independent adjudicator - or to take legal action.
Support
Philip Harte, head of 600-pupil St George's said: "Due to the enormous amount of support I have received from children, parents, and the Roman Catholic Diocese I am more confident than ever that we will remain open. I have got solicitors looking into the possibility that the process which the council has followed in drawing up these proposals is flawed."
Harrop Fold is to be rebuilt with é25m of Private Finance Initiative funding on its playing fields. But Mr Harte said: "The council has admitted that once it is built, two-fifths of the building will be mothballed to be used in the future for other educational purposes.
"We could remodel and improve our school for about é10m."
Barbara Keeley, Labour MP for Worsley, is backing the school.
Academic standards at St George's have improved dramatically, with 58 per cent of pupils gaining five GCSEs at grade C or higher, compared with 47 per cent in 2001. Tweet
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Let's see if the School Organisation Committee vetoes this, as they did in Bury last year.
Why can't politicians stop meddling? If it works, leave it alone. If something's successful, it seems that there's always somebody wanting to bring it down because they're not a part of the success.
WHAT AN UTTER DISGRACE â€" The reason given to justify closing St Georgeâ€<sup>TM</sup>s School in Walkden, (which has already proved to be an extremely successful school) is that the issue of surplus school places in Salford must be addressed â€" exactly the same excuse they used in 2000 to amalgamate Joseph Easthamâ€<sup>TM</sup>s High School and Little Hulton Community School. At that time a new â€<sup>~</sup>superâ€<sup>TM</sup> school was promised â€" but guess what, we are still waiting!! Building has JUST commenced and is not expected to be finished until 2010 â€" a full ten years after closure!! What has happened in the interim â€" the school has only recently recovered from special measures â€" the education of children in this area has been damaged beyond repair â€" but what is most SCANDALOUS is that TWO FIFTHS of the new building IS TO BE MOTHBALLED â€" so how has that addressed surplus places. Somebody has got to be held responsible for wrong decisions made in the past and hopefully the Schools Organisation Committee will see sense, although they didnâ€<sup>TM</sup>t the last time. Interestingly enough, one of the main players in pushing through the proposals in 2000 was Cllr Roger Jones (GMPTA Chair), who was then Lead Member for Education and is currently very much involved in publicising the Congestion Charge for Manchester. Can we call him back for an explanation as to where it all went wrong??? The Council is once again chasing money on offer from the Government to the detriment of the local community - The successful education of our children should be first and foremost on any agenda
I am absolutely disgusted both by the decision and by the attitude of the Council Leader and Lead Member for Childrens' Services in debating it. A truly appalling and depressing spectacle.
Incidentally, this has nothing to do with surplus places - St George's is considerably oversubscribed. What sort of Council closes a successful, popular, high-achieving school?
Regarding Surplus Places, I meant Salford wide, not at St Georges which I know to be oversubscribed. This is mainly due to parents and pupils being very happy due to the excellent job the school does. Surplus Places in 2000 simply means TWO FIFTHS OF A NEW BUILDING not being used today - where is the sense in that?