The future of The Parks School has been under review since last summer because the building does not meet
future needs and Oakham Primary School has secured an £8m government grant to be rebuilt.
On Monday county councillors
approved plans for the two schools to link up and revealed the new building could be located on a new site.
Although the county council has refused to identify possible locations,
education councillor Heather Wells (Con) confirmed that plots of land on both sides of the town bypass were being considered. It is not clear whether a new site could be on the north or south side of the town.
Developer Hawksmead wants to build 1,000 homes north of Oakham but county councillor Richard Gale (Ind) expressed his concerns about the council entering a possible land swap with the firm which owns land beyond the bypass. He said: "This would not be the right place for a school."
Joan Gibson, headteacher at Oakham Primary School in Burley Road, believes there could be benefits from a new site.
She said: "We are having to consider every possibility. There are some 300 children at Oakham Primary School and while it is an option to rebuild on our current site, it is not the most straight-forward thing in the world.
"Quite sensibly the council is
considering every option and everyone has the children's welfare in mind."
A decision on the site is expected to made within a few weeks.
Plans for the two schools involve
creating a 'soft federation' with a joint headteacher and two sets of governors.
Facilities would include the current school services, The Ark Nursery, a hydrotherapy pool, The Family Centre, drop in services and an outreach team to support families in the community.
Mrs Gibson said: "This is a fantastic opportunity to build on the work which has been going on between the schools. We are really excited to be able to work more closely with The Parks School to improve facilities for future generations of children."
The headteacher of The Parks School, Pia Kerridge, was unavailable for comment.
The rebuilt schools are expected to open in September, 2011.