The call for a slower pace of change was made yesterday by Member for Frome Geoff Brock.

It came as the countdown spiralled toward a deadline for a local decision on the proposal.

Mr Brock queried the plan for 10 schools and kindergartens with an enrolment of more than 2000 students to be divided into three big campuses.

Teachers met last week to discuss the proposal and the schools’ governing councils are due to reach a decision by tomorrow.

These meetings are expected to lead to a final reckoning on the proposal by June 30 – in time for planning in next financial year.

Mr Brock backed an editorial in The Recorder on Tuesday calling for parents and friends to be involved in the decision.

In seeking to avoid a “rush” toward a result, he cited research done for the Federal Government which suggested some children would be worse off in big schools.

He pointed to a study by Trevor Cobbold on how school size and socio-economic status affects student performance.

Mr Cobbold said research suggested that students “performed better in smaller elementary and middle schools while the results for high schools are mixed”. “New research shows that small school size is good for students from low socio-economic status backgrounds and communities with relatively high levels of disadvantage,” the study said.

“Students from low socio-economic status backgrounds achieve better results in smaller schools.”

The study was used in the Save our Schools campaign in Canberra in 2006.

Asked whether he backed the “super” school, Mr Brock said: “I am open to the idea.

“Let it be discussed by the school communities. We need input from the mums and dads with school children.

“There is $9 to $10 million available in the stimulus package to the schools. We need to ensure we spend that money wisely for the education of our youth.”

Mr Brock said he would write to Education Minister Jane Lomax-Smith with his views. He also planned to phone her yesterday.

“I want more information … I am not going to commit my vote until the governing councils have a full briefing and school communities have all the information and ask any questions,” he said. “We may need another six months to look at the proposal.”

Dr Lomax-Smith was unavailable last night.