HUNDREDS of parents have joined the campaign to prevent the merger of two resort schools.
Under new proposals Bispham High School and Collegiate High School are set to join together, but a new petition has been launched in an attempt to get the planned changes overturned.
Couns Christine Wright and Chris Ryan, ward councillors for the Greenlands area of Bispham, spent Friday afternoon campaigning in the streets around Bispham High and garnered 340 signatures in an hour-and-a-half.
Coun Wright says she now feels “confident” the campaign can achieve its goal.
She said: “It’s been a brilliant afternoon, especially considering it was so cold.
“The atmosphere was brilliant and the shopkeepers nearby are now going to be collecting signatures for us.
“The reaction we got is people don’t want to lose that school because the facilities the school has got are fantastic, and all this can’t be guaranteed if it goes to the new building at Collegiate.
“That’s really what we’re fighting for, the right to retain what we’ve got so the children don’t lose out.”
Coun Ryan added: “We had really good conversations with the people passing by.
“It’s all about the community, the children and not whether it will be an academy or not.
“We had a very positive answer with everyone we asked.”
Leanne McLean was among those out collecting signatures.
Her 14-year-old son Liam currently attends Bispham High.
Leanne, 43, of Cliff Place, Bispham, said: “We’re definitely not going to go without a fight.
“If they are going to merge them together we’d love to keep our school too.
“We don’t want to lose our school because we’re really passionate about it, and we’re just doing our best.”
Leanne said reaction to the petition had been overwhelmingly positive. She added: “We’ve only had three people turn round and say they’re for it or they don’t care, but everyone I’ve been talking to has been saying it’s disgusting and they can’t understand it.
“If the school closes it’ll affect local businesses as well.
“If I wanted my son to go to Collegiate I’d have sent him to Collegiate in the first place.
“I don’t want any disruption in his life because it’s such an important time. It would really affect me and my family.
“All the people are really shocked by it and they’re against it.”
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