A Carlisle secondary school which failed its Ofsted inspection could merge with another in the city in an attempt to improve results.
Morton School, which recently failed its inspection for the second time in eight years, could merge with Caldew School in Dalston.
The move is part of a government scheme to get the school out of special measures through partnership.
If the merger goes ahead, Morton's £600,000 debt would be written off.
The schools, which are four miles apart, would share Caldew's head teacher, Andy Abernethy and unite under a new name under the government's collaborative restart scheme.
This is when a failing school joins forces with a stronger school to learn its best practices and raise standards.
Mr Abernethy said: "It will depend on two good teams working together.
"We are all working very hard to do the best for our youngsters and we are determined to turn this situation around."