Earlier today, Isle of Wight council Executive member for Children’s services, Cllr Chris Whitehouse, shared with the press a letter he’d sent to CEO of Academies Enterprise Trust (AET), Julian Drinkall.
In his letter Cllr Whitehouse repeated allegations being made in the community that £850,000 was to be removed from Sandown Bay Academy’s budget over two years to be spent elsewhere.
This claim has been strongly refuted by AET this afternoon (Tuesday).
Funding crisis exacerbated by over-capacity
A spokesperson for AET told OnTheWight,
“We can absolutely refute the allegation that AET is removing funds from Sandown Bay to cross-subsidise activities elsewhere in the group.
“Sandown Bay is working within a very difficult funding environment. The current funding crisis for education has been widely reported, and schools right across the country are experiencing severe difficulties as a result.
“On the Isle of Wight these problems are exacerbated by over-capacity, as a result of which Sandown Bay, in common with several other schools on the Island, is experiencing student numbers which have fallen by 10% per year over the past three years, and are predicted to continue declining.”
Recommended savings
They went on to say,
“Within this difficult context, Sandown Bay has needed to make some very tough decisions, and AET has been working closely with the Head and Governors to agree restructuring plans.
“£850,000 was the original level of savings recommended, in the light of current and projected pupil numbers, in order to get the school in good financial shape. Following discussions with the Head, the current target is less than £250,000.
“Far from recommending these savings to cross-subsidise activities elsewhere in AET, however, as has been alleged, they are being made in order to focus resources where they are needed in the school. Our priority, and that of Sandown Bay, is on educational performance and on ensuring the best possible outcomes for the children and the families we serve.
“Meanwhile, therefore, we have been working very closely with the Head and Governors of Sandown Bay on a programme to improve performance. We will continue to give them every support.”
Image: David Mulder under CC BY 2.0
