Budget cuts squeezing local schools: principal

Ebrington headmaster Nigel Dougherty says all schools have been placed under pressure by a year-on-year reduction in the schools’ budget allocations in WELB which filtered down from the Department of Eduction (DE) allocation on April 1.

Mr Dougherty said principals are now struggling to get to grips with the reduced allocations and some schools across Londonderry may be facing redundancies in the year ahead.

Other schools may even have to look at whether they can survive as viable entities in the new straitened financial times, said Mr Dougherty.

The local headmaster’s warning follows recent amalgamations such as that at Drumrane Primary School in Limavady which saw the former Burnfoot, Dungiven and Largy Primary Schools unite on the same new premises to share resources.

“DE has issued WELB and consequently all schools with budgets and a lot of schools are going to be faced with shortfalls,” said the local principal.

“Principals are only getting their heads around it. I think some schools are going to be faced with redundancies and some smaller schools will have to look at viability. I would say everyone is going to be squeezed to some degree,” he added.

A spokesperson for WELB said the financial allocations presented very significant challenges for both the Board and for schools and difficult decisions would be required to ensure that expenditure in 2011/12 does not exceed the budget allocations approved by DE.

WELB members met on Thursday, March 31 to hear its Schools’ Delegated budget is £157,216,000 and its Centre Services budget is £74,166,000 in 2011/12.

The WELB spokesperson advised: “The financial allocation for WELB schools represents a 0.66 per cent decrease on the allocation the Board received for schools in the previous financial year, in contrast to an average decrease of 0.11 per cent for schools across Northern Ireland.

“The Board’s financial allocation of £74m for centrally managed services e.g. special education, school catering, home-to-school transport and administrative services in support of schools etc, represents a reduction of 3.99 per cent on the allocation for last financial year before taking account of inflation, incremental pay, pensions and other demand pressures.”

As for the separate issue of the proposed Ebrington/Foyle and Londonderry co-location capital scheme, Mr Dougherty said it was a matter of waiting post-election to see who takes the Education portfolio.

He said a number of matters - including schools’ capital allocations, the rationalisation of education under the stalled Education and Skills Authority (ESA) and post-primary selection - would all hinge on the policies pursued by a new Minister post-Ruane.

Mrs Ruane recently confirmed eight planned new schools in the North West - including the Foyle/Ebrington co-location project - will not commence until the summer of 2012 at the very earliest with limitations in capital funding lasting until 2015.