IT was their chance to have their say in public - and the parents who want to save Chineham Park Primary School let Hampshire education chief Councillor David Kirk know exactly what they think.

At a public meeting at the school on Monday evening, many parents reacted with anger to Cllr Kirk's decision to consult over the closure of the school on Shakespeare Road, Popley - and they accused him and Hampshire County Council officers of already making up their minds over the fate of the school.

The meeting became heated as parents challenged Cllr Kirk and other members of the panel, and refused to accept their children might be better off in another school that was not considered to be "inadequate" by Ofsted.

Leading the campaign, mother Sharon Lunnon listed a number of reasons why the school should stay open.

She said children would struggle to cope with large class sizes at other schools, especially the many who have special educational needs, and said it could take up to 45 minutes to walk to some of the schools listed as being within a mile of Chineham Park.

She also asked why Marnel school on Shetland Road, Popley had been expanded when there were surplus places at Chineham Park, adding: "I wouldn't put it past the council to have been under-handedly planning this."

Chris Holt, head of school organisation at Hampshire County Council, told the packed school hall that plans to extend Marnel went back four years and added the council did not know that Ofsted would put Chineham Park in special measures in January 2009.

But Norden ward borough councillor Paul Harvey pointed out that Chineham Park school had surplus places before 2002.

Mr Holt assured parents that the consultation process did not mean the school would close and that no decision had been made yet.

However, parent Phillip Neale said: "It seems you have gone out of your way already to find places for the kids. To me it looks like you have already done your homework. Personally, I think that stinks and I don't think that's correct. I seriously doubt that what you are saying is true."

(poss good pull quote?)Cllr Kirk defended the officers and said: "None of the officers here make any decision - I make the decisions. And one of the things I need to know is that if the school closes then is there somewhere for the children to go?"

Parents were told that key stage one results showed a steady decline, but Chineham Park Primary head teacher Gwen Clifford was adamant the results for their English SATS papers for 2008 had been lost, which had bought down their overall score.

She added: "We have no English SATS results for 2008 and I think it's important that's recognised."

However, area director David Hardcastle, responsible for Basingstoke schools, told the meeting he had the figures in front of him and added: "I find it interesting that there's a figure under the 2008 column to say what the SATS are."

Cllr Kirk said the situation would need to be investigated, adding: "We have got the head telling us one thing and Ofsted telling us something else."

There was outrage from parents when Cllr Kirk described their part of Popley as a deprived area.

He said: "Technically, you feature as one of the more deprived areas of the county. The index of multiple depravation is something we have to take into consideration."

(Good pull quote) Cllr Harvey stood up for the local community and said: "We are not deprived in Popley. We object to these words. We may have needs but we are not deprived. We are proud to live here and we are proud of our community. So please don't use the word deprived."

The meeting became even more heated as parents blamed the county council for not giving the school enough time to change, and not supporting it enough to help make the changes needed to improve.

Attention was then focused on the Interim Executive Board (IEB), appointed by the Secretary of State in July to turn the school around and bring it out of special measures.

Cllr Kirk said the IEB needed to be confident that the school could improve. He added: "Their views will count for a lot on the decision of the future of the school. If they aren't confident that they can achieve improvements, then it makes my decision much clearer."

Only Popley East borough councillor Andrew McCormick was present from the IEB at the meeting. Chairman of the IEB Mike Hiscock later told The Gazette that the other members did not attend because the meeting was for parents.

He added: "The IEB are meeting with LA representatives next week as part of the consultation process and we will receive feedback from all consultation meetings and drop in sessions with parents when we meet. The meeting last night was specifically for parents to air their views and question Cllr Kirk and officers of the authority."

Cllr Kirk admitted it would be a challenge to make a decision regarding the future of the school. He added: "We have been here before where the school has gone into a category and it's come out of a category. The dilemma is how much time can you allow? The children in the school and the children who will be coming to the school if it stays open, are we sure that we are doing the best for them?"

But Mr Neale said: "We are the best people to decide what represents best education for our children, and we chose to send them here."

Parents were asked whether their child had been failed by the school - and no one raised their hand. But when asked if their child had achieved at the school, nearly every hand went up in the air.