The Governing Body of Christ the King College have expressed their disappointment at the statement issued by the Isle of Wight council (IWC) in which Leader of the Isle of Wight council, Cllr Dave Stewart, said the school had made an ” ill-judged decision”.
The Governors refute the IWC’s view “that the decision to lease the building was ill-judged and was undertaken without the approval of the Council”.
Agreement entered into with IWC’s permission
The statement issued by the Governing body this afternoon reads:
The Governing Body of Christ the King College are disappointed to read the statement given on behalf of the Isle of Wight Council regarding the funding of the sixth form block.
“We totally refute the Isle of Wight Council’s view that the decision to lease the building was ill-judged and was undertaken without the approval of the Council. The Governing Body was only able to enter this agreement with the express permission of the Isle of Wight Council who, along with both Dioceses, supported the establishing of an 11-18 school to contribute to the raising of standards across the Island and to provide families with choice and diversity.
The extract below confirms the Local Authority had full knowledge, provided support for the lease agreement and needs to share responsibility for this situation.
“The Council approves the entry into the Hire Contract by the Governing Body and agrees that the same will not cause the Governing Body to be in breach of any restrictions or obligations stated in the Scheme for Financing Schools or exceed any limitations on the powers of the Governing Body stated in the Schools and Standards Framework Act 1998.”
Extract from a letter from Steve Beynon, Chief Executive of the Isle of Wight Council, addressed to the Principal of Christ the King College, 14th February 2013.
Suffered “significant lack of financial support”
The statement from the Governors goes on to say,
Christ the King College has suffered historically from a significant lack of financial support during our growth, and we have repeatedly and consistently requested capital support and financial help that we know has been given to other schools.
We note that Councillor Stewart refers to responsible use of tax payers’ money and, as a Governing Body, it is important to state that all our revenue funds are spent on our students and their education and not, as the Council wishes us to do, spend on a building we believe should have been provided for our community.
Working relentlessly to resolve issue
The Governors add,
We also completely refute the Council’s view that we are not taking responsibility to find a solution. The Governing Body has been, and continues, to work relentlessly to resolve this issue.
We are pleased that the Isle of Wight Council recognises that the school is high attaining and that the day-to-day management is perfectly sound. We would add to this that the Isle of Wight Council has facilitated more than one meticulous audit of our finances, all carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), and there is absolutely no evidence of any financial mismanagement.
On the contrary, the current deficit is solely attributable to the annual capital cost of the sixth form building and the lease which was entered knowingly and in good faith by all involved in the setting up of the school.
Education at the school continues to be secure
They finish by saying,
We hope that the Island community will share our view that our young people deserve to have their educational facilities provided for them and should not have to bear the cost themselves from the revenue which should be spent on resources and teachers.
In the meantime, we will continue to support the leadership of the College in providing the very best education that they can for our students, and we wish to reassure parents, staff and students that their education with us continues to be secure.
Image: © Christ the King College
