School axes nine jobs to balance its budget
A SECONDARY school will be shedding nine jobs in the summer because of a cut in funding.
The Robert Manning College, in Edinburgh Crescent, Bourne, is making seven teaching assistant positions and two support staff jobs redundant when the current staff members' contracts run out in August.
The school says it needs to ensure its budget does not go into deficit after losing a "significant" amount of funding for children with additional needs from Lincolnshire County Council.
The council is looking to give a budget for special needs pupils directly to schools but will be changing the statement of educational need, a legal document which determines how many hours of support a child must receive. The proposals will affect special needs pupils with statements at levels one to five – moderate needs – but children at levels six to eight will continue to get statements.
The school has also lost funding for pupils on the School Action and School Action plus schemes.
Principal Laurence Reilly says the school is not looking to save money but ensuring its budget does not go into the red.
A statement said: "The decision has been difficult and, after exploring other alternatives, the size of the reduction in funding left the college with no alternative.
"The staffing reductions are essential for the college to secure a sound financial platform for the future and reflects the governing body's determination that the college's budget will not be allowed to go into deficit.
"The redundancy process has been carried out with dignity and respect for the staff involved."
Assistant director of children's services Debbie Barnes said: "It is the responsibility of the governing bodies of schools to manage budgets and staffing requirements. We work with schools to minimise compulsory redundancies. A redeployment officer supports staff and helps them move into other posts.
"This year schools have been guaranteed a 2.1 per cent per pupil increase in funding. No school has lost money in 2010/11 as a result of the introduction of the new funding system for special educational needs children.
"We recognise that any change to budgets requires time to enable schools to plan and this is why we have protected schools in this way."
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Weather for Bourne
Friday 25 May 2012
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Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
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