Schools don’t have enough money to keep children safe or provide the statutory level of education, governors have warned in a bombshell letter to Education Minister Jeremy Miles. Vale of Glamorgan Governors Association claims the low level of funding from Welsh Government may be unlawful, education will suffer and schools will have no choice but to make staff redundant.
“We have strong concerns about the pupils at our schools when we do not have sufficient finance to provide the statutory level of education and to keep the learners in our care safe,” the letter, signed by association chair Martin Price says. It adds that with no more cash to cut “in many cases any recovery plan would require such levels of staff reductions to make the schools unviable”.
Demanding an urgent meeting with the minister the governors say most schools in the Vale of Glamorgan are “in the position of setting unsustainable deficit budgets for 2023/2024” with one secondary forecasting a positive carry forward of £140,000 for 2022/23, but then a budgeted loss of £312,000 for 2023/24 to follow. Several primary schools are forecasting deficits in excess of £200,000, the letter, signed by association chair Martin Prices adds.
