Fife Council has rejected calls for an independent review of the Madras College saga, insisting it would be a waste of time and effort.
Council leader David Ross said the commissioning of a further inquiry into five years of wrangling over the Pipeland site in St Andrews was unnecessary given a suitable site had now been found.
Labour and the Liberal Democrats voted down a motion from SNP councillors Ian Ferguson and David McDiarmid, who insisted a review would ensure the local authority learned lessons on how significant capital projects were considered.
The SNP described the result as “hugely disappointing”, stating that £3.2 million had already been spent on the long-awaited new school with nothing to show for it.
Fife Council began pursuing Pipeland as the preferred option for the single-site secondary school in 2012 after negotiations for university-owned land at Langlands fell through.
It was forced back to the drawing board in March after a successful legal challenge by campaign group Stepal.
Mr Ross announced on Thursday that the council was now close to securing a deal with St Andrews University for the original Langlands site, although the project is expected to be £5m overspent at £40m.
St Andrews Labour councillor Brian Thomson branded the SNP motion “petty party politics” and added: “It was completely pathetic.”
He added: “All the information, including the costs, are out there in the public domain.
“The council went through a democratic process and the only reason it didn’t happen was three individuals got together to form a company and lodged a legal challenge.
“We couldn’t predict that.”
Councillor Ian Ferguson, who proposed the motion, said: “It is hugely disappointing that Labour, the Lib Dems and Independents feel there is nothing to be learned from wasting £3.2m.
“There have been other Fife Council projects like the Dunfermline flood prevention scheme that was £25m over budget.”
The council’s education spokesman, Councillor Bryan Poole, has now called for everyone to work together to ensure the children of St Andrews get the school they deserve after 11 years of arguments.
“We need a more grown up approach,” he said.
“Surely people can unite around the fact we are going to have a new school to replace the one we’ve got.”
