Parents raise concerns over racism and children's safety at other schools if Blackheath Bluecoat in south-east London is shut
The school in south-east London attended by Stephen Lawrence until his death in 1993 is facing closure.
The expected closure of Blackheath Bluecoat Church of England school, which has an 80% black and ethnic minority intake, would force pupils to be dispersed to schools in the surrounding area.
Among the schools proposed for pupils' relocation is one in Eltham, located a few hundred metres from the road where Lawrence was murdered, prompting fears from parents about their children's safety.
One mother who asked to remain anonymous said: "The children feel safe at Bluecoats. My son is 15 and he'd be wary of going to places like Eltham, which is still a racist area. He was aware of the Lawrence case all those years ago.
"The council have always said that if the school closes there are plenty of places at other schools but the schools where those places are, [are] where we would never choose to send our children. The race issue is definitely an important part of that."
She said the verdict in the Lawrence case had "brought a lot of stuff to the surface. It'll definitely have a bearing now. It's quite scary when you think about what could happen."
Another mother said: "Kids from other schools are going round saying that any child from Blackheath will get beaten up. For the children [potentially] leaving, that's a real threat and a real fear they hold. It could be idle threats but children like my son are saying why would they want to do this? Just because we go to a school they don't like, or has previously had a bad reputation."
The final decision on whether to commit to a phased closure of the 311-year-old school, which would result in complete closure by August 2014, is expected to be announced on Tuesday.
It follows a recommendation for closure by the council's director of children's services, and a council cabinet report highlighting a fall in pupil numbers, incurring a £1.1m financial deficit last year.
Teachers at the school have drawn attention to its improving results – last year the school achieved a 50% five A*-C pass rate at GCSE, including English and maths, its highest ever – and to an Ofsted report in November that concluded: "The school is successfully tackling a legacy of underachievement from previous years."
Pupils, parents and teachers are planning a protest march to the council's office on Tuesday afternoon, following a concerted campaign to keep Blackheath open. The England footballer and Blackheath alumnus Rio Ferdinand has shown his support.
The executive headteacher, Jeffrey Risbridger, said: "If Blackheath Bluecoat school closes, I am concerned that the parents and carers of those pupils who will be displaced to other schools should be able to express a clear preference for an alternative school of their choice, and be confident of getting it.
"However, this will obviously depend on the number of vacancies in that particular school and it is of course likely that the most popular schools will have the fewest vacancies."
In 2009 Blackheath Bluecoats came into federation with Saint Cecilia's school, a popular and successful school in Wandsworth, and was granted three and a half years to use its ally's experience and expertise to aid improvement.
Risbridger said he was disappointed that Greenwich council began the consultation on closing Blackheath a year before the federation was due to come to an end. "This does not seem to be a very fair way to do business," he said. Greenwich council declined to comment.