Gloucestershire Schools' debt increases by £1m
SCHOOLS in Gloucestershire have fallen nearly £1 million further into the red.
Twenty-five schools in the county are now struggling to balance their books, compared with 14 in the 2007/08 academic year.
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Jo Grills
The total debt of £2.04 million, up from £1.1 million the previous year, means the average deficit per school is about £82,000 – almost £6,700 above the national average.
Three secondary schools, including Pittville in Cheltenham, account for £1.65 million of the deficit. The others struggling are Central Technology College, in Gloucester, and Maidenhill, in Stonehouse.
Jo Grills, director of learning and development at Gloucestershire County Council, said staff were working hard to get back into the black.
She said: "All three schools have experienced difficulties turning their finances around because of low pupil numbers – funding is on a per pupil basis.
"We have been working closely with the three schools and have been assisting them in raising standards.
"This, in turn, leads to higher pupil numbers as schools become more popular with the community, and consequently, an improved financial situation.
"We have different plans and approaches in place for each school, but across the board we are seeing improvements that are encouraging for the future."
According to figures obtained by the Echo under the Freedom of Information Act, Pittville had 235 spare places in January 2009. The school currently has 620 pupils on its roll.
There were 348 surplus places at Central Technology College, while Maidenhill could have accommodated another 174 students.
All three schools are being scrutinised by a board set up by the county council to monitor their performance.
A report written by council officers for a meeting of the Gloucestershire Schools Forum said secondary schools were particularly susceptible to slipping further into debt.
It said: "While there is a sound process in place to identify schools at risk of going into deficit, it must be concerning there has been an increase in the number of schools where this is an issue.
"There must also be a risk that reductions in Government funding will adversely impact on this and may begin to test individual schools' sustainability."
Figures released last year revealed relative wealth between schools in Gloucestershire varied by more than £1 million. At the top end of the scale, Chosen Hill in Churchdown ended the 2007/08 financial year with nearly £600,000 in leftover funds, the vast majority of which has been reinvested in the school.
Meanwhile, Central Technology College recorded debts of £516,000.
Bishop's Cleeve Primary School had a £64,000 deficit and St Thomas More Catholic Primary School in Cheltenham also lodged debts of £25,000.
Schools which have slipped into the red by more than £10,000 have to send a "recovery plan" to the county council detailing how they intend to deal with the shortfall.
16 Comments
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by Tim, Cheltenham
Monday, March 15 2010, 3:38PM
“Don't forget all the marking and after schools activities.
All the teachers I know have to work most evenings.”
by Tim, Glos
Monday, March 15 2010, 12:59PM
“4 hours a day average teaching and 12 weeks a year holidays.
And you wonder why schools are a financial hole.
I wanna be a teacher. Anyone at any age seems to be able to teach nowadays”
by Carol, Glos
Monday, March 15 2010, 12:57PM
“I have to agree with SL. My neice is a teacher who seems to earn a lot of money for teaching on average 4 hours a day. It is a leisure club!
This time of year when everyone starts leaving, that average will probably drop to more like 3 hours a day as well. How can this be justified?”
by SL, Newent
Monday, March 15 2010, 12:49PM
“From what I have seen of schools, There are far too many teachers with far too much free time. These people have no idea what it is like to do a real job. I would lovbe to go into work every day at half 8, finish at half 3 with 2 free lessons, an hour lunch and another hour so called tutorial time. You dont even have to cover anymore because they get special contractors in to do that.
Honestly, schools are an absolute money drain. The sooner you get business people in charge and teachers actually working a full day each (Hence getting rid of about 50% of them) the sooner the drain on our wallets will be reduced.
Its an absolute joke”
by Anon, Tewk
Sunday, March 14 2010, 9:47PM
“The logic isn't hard to understand. Glos as a county that is rural. Small schools in villages are massively more expensive to run. However, despite all the reviews local government does, the politicians always bottle out from closing any.”
by Not So Sure, The 'Wolds
Sunday, March 14 2010, 8:05PM
“I'm sorry, but people clearly don't understand how the system works.
1. Costs have continued to go up. For instance, many schools have had the internet services that they are mandated to purchase from the LEA have gone up by several thousands of pounds this year. There is a public sector pay increase to cover, as well as general inflationary pressures.
2. Income has gone down. There has been a funding freeze from the LEA for most (all?) schools. No extra money. Schools are also struggling, having to subsidise trips/activities etc for parents who can not afford to contribute to the costs.
School management teams are really struggling, and in some respects the LEA is not providing sufficient resources.”
by Ear Wigger, Gloucester
Saturday, March 13 2010, 11:01PM
“Two reasons for this:
1. Bad management of the money at the schools.
2. Government funding cut left right and centre.
Cheers Tony, "education, education, education" my botty!”
by John Doherty, Gloucester
Saturday, March 13 2010, 10:53PM
“Bearing in mind our addiction to state dependence is it not high time parents were forced to take into account the full cost to taxpayers for maintaining a child from age of 5 to 16 years old. The bare minimum cost for supporting 3 children in a family aged between 5 and 16 amounts to £ 191,532 (Average year £17,142) and that sum excludes family tax credits and any form of health treatment. Increase the number of children to 8 and you increase that bill to £ 529,584 (Average Year £48,144) Next we should consider the average working couple paying combined income tax of £8,500 and we have a serious financial imbalance (3 children) £8,642 x 11 years £95,062 and (8 children) £39,644 x 11 years £436,084. Or as one example where both Father and Mother refuse to work and have 8 children we are then discussing millions of pounds. Now if the taxpayer is prepared to support these families then the minimum we should expect in return is that all parents oblige children to be trained and taught to be better citizens”
by Vic Tory, At The Poles
Saturday, March 13 2010, 9:54PM
“All schools will be privately run within 5 years, after we've won the election, so don't worry about it too much.”
by Monicks, Gloucestershire
Saturday, March 13 2010, 4:50PM
“It is interesting to note that schools 'income' fluctuates considerably across Gloucestershire - for e.g. a smaller school with 50 pupils may have an equivalent income of £5000 / pupil but a large 400 place school will have approx £3000 / pupil.
A school in Gloucestershire with 167 pupils has more income (£750,000) than a school with 180 (£690,000) !
Funding for pupils having Free School Meals is also funded on a three-year average which often causes schools difficulties.
It is also interesting to note that there are most likely many schools still holding surplus balances and 'accounting' for large sums of money within their returns.”