Public consultation into the future of Castlebrae High School is to start later this month, after a 24-page report recommending the school's closure was presented to the council's Education, Children and Families Committee.

The process will run from October 25 to December 7, with full details of the consultation to be made available electronically, along with details of public meetings and information about how members of the community can have their views heard. The final recommendations will be reported to the council in March 2013.

Opposition to the plans is already being vocally expressed. Last week more than 100 members of the community gathered outside the school to protest, while a Save Castlebrae Facebook page and online petition have been set up, supported by Edinburgh East MP Sheila Gilmore and Lothians MSP Kezia Dugdale.

The proposal report, drafted under the auspices of the Children and Families Department, is available in Craigmillar and Portobello libraries, and can also be downloaded here.

The document argues that Castlebrae, which has served Craigmillar since the 1960s, should be closed because only around 200 pupils now attend, despite there being capacity for 600. The figure is apparently the lowest of any secondary school in Edinburgh, and is estimated to fall to around 160 within the next three years.

The report also cites comparatively poor educational attainment levels, and the fact that two thirds of eligible children from the catchment area attend school elsewhere. With per-pupil running costs additionally stated as being twice the city average, closure is expected to usher in budgetary savings of £1.3milllon a year.

Under the plans, Castlebrae High School would shut its doors for good at the end of the current school year.

s1Craigmillar contributor Johnni Stanton's post on the Save Castlebrae Facebook page reflects the strength of feeling in the community, where many parents remember the protracted but ultimately unsuccessful struggle to save Lismore Primary.

"It should not all be about school grades," he writes, adding: "Craigmillar has produced MANY well-known people in Sports, the Arts and other disciplines. Has THAT been "marked up"? I suspect not! Yet the council are determined to close a Community School. Why?"

Over the coming weeks, both sides will have to arrive at an answer.