He is supporting the Belper Civic Forum campaign to ensure the listed building on Gibfield Lane is used for community facilities and is not sold off for housing.
The building is now empty after the school moved to a new £3.7 million site at the beginning of this term.

On Saturday the group gathered on King Street to urge people to support their campaign and have so far gathered 1,400 signatures on a petition.
The old building was given to the town by Herbert Strutt, who said it should be for the community.

Forum member Cynthia Maddock said: "The petition was a success with more than 600 signatures in four hours. Nobody refused to sign it and we had 800 signatures at the previous signing a week earlier."

Mr Groom is a member of the civic forum and attended the school between 1961 and 1968.

He said: "I'm concerned about the future of the school building. It's a wonderful building and I don't think it would lend itself well to being flats and apartments.

"George Herbert Strutt stated that it must be used by the community. I'm sure he didn't have this in mind.

"The building has great potential and the action group is already putting into place a business plan for it. It could be used for a combination of commercial and community facilities."

At a full council meeting of Amber Valley Borough Council in October it was suggested that the school should be sold with proceeds going to the Herbert Strutt charity.

The civic forum, which plans to launch the petition online will now meet with the borough council to discuss its proposals for the site.
A spokeswoman from the borough council said a consultant had been appointed to carry out a feasibility study into the various potential uses for the building.

She said: "Belper Civic Forum has provided us with a specification of the issues they would like addressed in the feasibility study.

"We sent this out, alongside our own specification, to the consultants that were originally invited to bid for the work."

The feasibility study will be completed by March 31, said the council spokeswoman.