A rural primary threatened with closure has become the first Catholic school to vote to become integrated in a dramatic bid to remain open. a ballot of parents at Clintyclay PS on the Tyrone/armagh border achieved a 100 per cent result in favour of 'transformation'. The extraordinary challenge to Church control is being seen as a test case that, if successful, could prompt other under-threat schools to follow suit. At least one of the dozens of other rural Catholic primaries facing an uncertain future is also understood to have held discussions about joining the integrated sector. Schools must demonstrate the ability to draw a minimum of 10 per cent of their first year intake from the minority tradition to access government funding to transform to integrated status. Clintyclay has just 35 pupils but already has some non-Catholic children on its roll-call. The Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) said last year it planned to consult on the potential closure of the school, although no proposal has yet been published. Gerard Cunningham, chairman of Clintyclay's governing body, last night said he hoped CCMS would now postpone its closure plan. "This has not happened before, never in the maintained sector," Mr Cunningham said. All we are asking is for their development proposal to be deferred until we have this one looked at. "The school is there for as long as the community wants it." There are a total of 62 integrated schools in Northern Ireland, catering for 21,500 children - around seven per cent of the total pupil population. While a majority of the schools were new, 22 'transformed' to integrated from the controlled sector. However, no Catholic school has ever held a successful ballot until now.
