Thousands of parents could endure an agonising wait through the summer holidays as plans for the shake-up of Oxford schools face a delay until September, writes Mark Templeton.

The schools organisation committee will meet next week to decide the future of the city's education system but is likely to vote to suspend a decision for two months.

The postponement follows uncertainty over the future of St Augustine's the joint Roman Catholic and Church of England school and financing of the project following revelations of a possible 10m gap in funding.

When the committee meets on Tuesday, it is likely to vote to defer any decisions until September for further financial reports to be prepared and for the religious issue to be settled. A leaked confidential briefing to Oxfordshire County Council's Liberal Democrat group by their education spokesman, Cllr Janet Morgan, says: "The education committee reaffirmed support for a joint school. Catholics are furious and being very aggressive e.g. will go to judicial review if adjudicator rules against them.

"It's possible Catholics have most of the cards and we'd better give in gracefully (this has the advantage of improving the financial position) but no-one is keen to do it.

"They (the Anglicans) would like a commitment that a new Didcot secondary would be Anglican."

Cllr Morgan, who is chairman of the schools organisation committee, told the Oxford Mail: "It is up to the committee to decide if they want to adjourn but that is now likely and we will take a vote on it.

"People will be critical of us if we make a decision but will be even more critical if we make a decision without the full facts."

She said if the meeting is delayed, it would not affect the timetable for change once proposals are given the go-ahead. The committee may also agree to the changes in principle subject to financing of the scheme.

Parents are furious at the delay and Annie Skinner, who heads the Save Our Schools group, said: "The fact that there could possibly be an adjournment until September comes as no surprise as the Local Education Authority has consistently demonstrated its incapability to manage this scheme in every aspect.

"In four months there has been an deficit of 10m in the budget if we wait till September will there be a deficit of 20m? If this was a business plan surely it would have been

chucked out by now.

"We cannot understand why the county councillors do not listen to the teachers and the parents and realise that this scheme will be disastrous." School Organisation Committees were set up by Education Secretary David Blunkett to give more power at a local level. Plans for the shake-up would be the first major decision taken by the Oxfordshire body but if they cannot reach a decsions the matter would got a Government appointed adjudicator.

The county's chief education officer, Graham Badman, said: "The Schools Organisation Committee is not a committee of the county council, nevertheless it is considering proposals brought forward by all three political parties.

"It is absolutely crucial that the discussions are informed and members have full information about the costs of the proposals, the sources of funding and implications of change for parents and key interest groups such as the Roman Catholic and Anglican Church.

"I am confident that should the meeting be adjourned it will ultimately be in the best interest of the proposals put forward to raise levels of achievement in this city."