Redundancies In Burgess Hill Schools As The Funding Crisis Begins To Bite Hard

As schools in Burgess Hill still await the supposedly new 'fairer' funding formula to come into play from central government in a few years time, the current real-term cuts in play are seeing Schools having to make redundancies to their staff.

The Burgess Hill Academy are cutting 1 member of staff, Manor Field Primary School are losing 5 members of support staff, and Woodlands Meed SEN School are having to reduce their staffing numbers by EIGHT in an environment where staff to pupil ratios need to be high due to their special educational needs.

The information has come from UNISON West Sussex following a survey conducted with their members.

Across the country, 98% of schools' costs are rising faster than their income, with 60% of secondary schools running deficit budgets.

Last month, West Sussex County Council rejected a motion to release £1 million to schools in the county to help them tick over until the new funding formula comes in - a formula which will still see our schools chronically under-funded compared to the rest of the country.

The council then failed to debate the issue as they 'ran out of time'

Local MPs such as Nicholas Soames have attempted to get the government to rectify the under-funding of our schools. These efforts have not proved successful.
(So much for the supposed advantage of having MPs from the controlling party representing you)

Schools To Go Down To A 4-Day Week?
It has been suggested that class sizes will have to increase and that schools may have to consider going down to a 4 day week in order to balance the books. Both of these scenarios will be terrible for our children's educational attainment.

How Much Money Is Each School In Burgess Hill Going To Lose?
The website SchoolCuts.org have data on how much money each school in Burgess Hill will lose by 2019. The shocking figures are as follows...

Birchwood Grove -£133,340 Budget change by 2019 -£367 Per Pupil -4 Teachers The Burgess Hill Academy -£273,426 Budget change by 2019 -£340 Per Pupil -7 Teachers London Meed -£158,946 Budget change by 2019 -£369 Per Pupil -5 Teachers The Gattons Infant School -£121,253 Budget change by 2019 -£468 Per Pupil -3 Teachers Manor Field School -£151,337 Budget change by 2019 -£286 Per Pupil -4 Teachers Sheddingdean Community Primary School -£70,182 Budget change by 2019 -£395 Per Pupil -2 Teachers Southway Junior School -£126,340 Budget change by 2019 -£381 Per Pupil -4 Teachers St Paul's Catholic College -£275,867 Budget change by 2019 -£363 Per Pupil -8 Teachers St Wilfrid's Catholic Primary School -£110,664 Budget change by 2019 -£264 Per Pupil -3 Teachers

If you want someone who will try their best to help the schools in Burgess Hill during this financial crisis, then vote for Burgess HIll Uncovered's Peter Chapman, your INDEPENDENT candidate for Burgess Hill North.

As soon as I'm elected I will form relationships with every head teacher in Burgess Hill and speak up for them at the county council. Our children's education is so important and they shouldn't be disadvantaged by the Government's unfair funding policy, especially at a time when hundreds of millions of pounds has been made available for new Grammar Schools and Free Schools across the country!

Find out all the information on the campaign by clicking here