The future of schools in Keighley has been sealed after Bradford council voted in favour of a change from a three-tier to a two-tier system.

Nearly four councillors to one (52-14) backed the proposed change to a two-tier system which will see the first-middle-upper school structure replaced by a primary-secondary arrangement.

The overwhelming vote was made at a council meeting on Tuesday, with the ruling Labour council predicting that classroom standards would rise as a result.

The historic decision marks a dramatic change to the fabric of education in the district, which for the past 30 years has been based around a three-tier system.

Local views have been strong, both in favour and against the move.

Liberal Democrat and Tory councillors united to vote against the recommendation, amid allegations that the school review had determined the outcome before it had started.

But council leader John Ryan, who launched the review last May, responded: "Bradford is now poised to make the most fundamental and, in the view of most parents and teachers in this district, the most beneficial change in decades to the way we educate our children."

Education chairman Jim Flood says the council's decision was balanced between consigning the district to 'permanent relegation status' or placing it in 'an ascending escalator of hope'.

Many parents and head-teachers who attended the meeting were saddened by the vote, which could lead to the closure of up to 70 of the districts 246 schools.

Mark Newman, head-teacher of Denholme First School, remains sceptical. He says: "I remain unconvinced by the merits of the new system and having gone through the report I think some of the statistics need to be looked at again. But I think the decision was inevitable and we now have to be as positive as we possibly can be."

Education chiefs have also stressed that all 56 middle schools in the area will close in their present form. They are concerned about public confusion on the subject, which they say may have led people to believe that some middle schools would remain open. Some middle schools will become primary or secondary schools while some will be expanded.

The final decision about the fate of individual schools will be announced by the education committee on Tuesday.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.