20 November 2009

School Budgets

School Budget Concerns

Broughton High School Parent Council

December 2009

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School budget cutsa front-line perspective on the cutsconsequences of continuing cutsalternative suggestionssummary

Some observations on the recent budget proposals, submitted on behalf of the Parent Council of Broughton High

School

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A front-line perspective on the cuts

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A long-term viewBroughton’s budget has suffered approved reductions of £135,000 in the last 3 years2.5% pa reduction for the next 3 years will equate approximately to a further £300,000this relentless reduction has already had, and will continue to have, a detrimental impact on the quality of learning experiencethis is an untenable context for the implementation of A Curriculum for ExcellenceHead Teachers are faced with an

impossible task, to try to deliver quality education in this financial

context

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the vast majority of a school’s budget is absorbed by staff costs – both teaching and non-teachingthe resource required for this is largely a function of the number of pupils, taking account of any additional social and educational needssalaries and other costs continue to rise year-on-year, yet the budget does not increase to reflect thatthe impact of the cuts is concentrated on the small discretionary proportion of budget within school control

it is not possible to squeeze any more juice out of an orange which has already been

squeezed dry

Non-discretionary spend

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Non-discretionary spend

2.5% of this … … or 60% of this?

Over 95% of BHS school budget is non-discretionary (eg staffing, premises)The net effect of the flat 2.5% reduction at BHS is a 60% reduction in discretionary spend

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Educational suppliesBroughton receives an allowance of £75 per pupil as an Educational Supplies allocationthis £67,000 forms the backbone of the discretionary budget at the school’s disposala proposed reduction in the order of £100,000 not only restricts this, but completely eliminates it, and more!

ironically, it would be better to have the Educational Supplies allocation withdrawn, than

to face the challenge of £100,000 budget reduction

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Examination feesbudget allocation for SQA examinations has been made without any reference to planned presentationsbased on current estimates, Broughton anticipate examination costs of £76,834only £65,076 has been allocated for thisthis will effectively result in a £12,000 budget deficit

young people risk being denied opportunity on the basis of unilateral

budget allocations

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Parental leaveresponsibility for covering some costs for maternity and paternity leave have been transferred to schools (notably accrued holidays & keep-in-touch days)there are no additional allowances in the devolved budget to cover thiswith 5 anticipated maternity leavers and 1 paternity leaver, this will cost Broughton over £20,000

this effectively amounts to a substantial budget cut by the “back door”, further

impacting service delivery

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Telephony projectschools budgets include a “telecoms adjustment”at the same time, telephone rental costs have been removed from the devolved budget, and so outwith school controlthis has been done without any communication or consultation

it is iniquitous and unfair to allocate costs to schools, without accrual of associated

benefits

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A Curriculum for Excellenceimplementation of ACfE requires development of new courses and study programmesto be successful, this requires substantial allocation of non-teaching time over the next few yearsdelivery of new teaching will impose additional burdens on both staff time and resources in the early yearsthere is no additional allowance being made to support development and implementation of ACfEschools essentially face a choice of devoting already limited resources to ACfE – this is a disastrous way to implement major change

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Curriculum developmentindependent of ACfE, ongoing evolution of the curriculum continuescurricular changes dictate a requirement for new resourcesfor example, new Scottish history content in History Higher requires purchase of new booksthe budget for this kind of development has been eroded over recent years

we have reached the point where the budget barely covers basic service

delivery, with no ongoing investment in development

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Management structurerecent years have seen a flattening of the management structures at Broughtonthe introduction of faculties has led to efficiency savings as we transition away from departmental headsat the same time, the number of central management roles has increased!

it is demoralising to see local efficiency savings being negated by central

inefficiencies

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Local circumstancesindividual circumstances affect the impact of flat budget reductionsschools with additional funding have an additional pool of discretionary spend from which to find savingsBroughton receives little in the way of additional discretionary funding, which concentrates the impact of the cuts

schools with limited additional funding face a harder challenge to

realise savings

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Timingthe timing of budget publication and review makes it almost impossible for Business Managers to manage sensibly against a budgetsome budget changes are effectively imposed more than half way through the yearthere has been little or no advance warning of, or consultation about, these changesthis has the effect of more than doubling the impact

it is unrealistic and unfair to expect schools to achieve

substantial full-year savings in less than half a year

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Consequences of continuing cuts

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Fundamental objectivea good quality comprehensive education for all should be a right, not a privilegechoice is already restricted for the most able pupilsthe ability to provide necessary support to pupils with additional needs is already severely constrained by limited resourcesa school cannot deliver quality, choice and support without sufficient resources the time has come to re-evaluate the service

delivered against the core requirements

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Impact on pupilsthe consequences of the budget reductions are directly affecting the quality of education and service provided to pupils and familiesteaching is being curtailed due to constraints on budgets for resources and photocopyingthe impact is particularly concentrated on the most able and the most needy pupils

the budget planning process seems to have lost sight of those who should be at the heart of the education service – the

pupils

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Impact on able pupilsin order to retain able pupils in the Senior School, it is necessary to offer choicea full programme of Higher and Advanced Higher courses is a core part of a school’s offeringthese courses require smaller class sizes, and have a higher unit cost of deliveryBroughton already operates larger S3 & S4 classes, to protect resource to deliver the essential S5 & S6 classesthere is no more room for efficiency in class

delivery, other than reducing the programme of Higher and Advanced Higher

courses

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Impact on needy pupilspupils with social and / or educational needs require additional support to maximise their benefit from educationdelivery of this support requires a heavy commitment of resources – often on a 1:1 basisBroughton has a particularly diverse catchment, with significant numbers of pupils requiring additional support

any reduction in additional support resources will have an immediate and

detrimental effect on those in most need of support

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Reliance on charityBroughton receives support in excess of £4,000 pa from the Broughton Association (a fundraising sub-group of the Parent Council)in addition, it receives immeasurable support (financial and in kind) from a range of business partnersin recent years, this has evolved from supporting ‘extras’, towards funding and supporting core curricular activitiesthis fundraising essentially transfers some of the school budget to families, staff, and local businesseswith Education being a recognised priority for improving society, it is unacceptable to expect schools to effectively beg to make ends meet

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Priorities & choicesBroughton could save £100,000 by:

cutting the senior management team by one thirdcutting Principal Teachers by 8%cutting Teachers by 7%… or …cutting non-teaching staff by one quarter

none of these is acceptable; although the budget for these is devolved, such decisions

cannot be devolved to schools

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Priorities & choicesBroughton could save £100,000 by:

withdrawing coursesHigher, Advanced Higher and Baccalaureate

not presenting borderline pupils for examswithdrawing pastoral care services from pupilssuspending staff development and reviewsrequiring pupils to provide own books and stationerywithdrawing management time from running lets

… and …withdrawing extra-curricular activitieseach one of these is unacceptable; pursuing all

of them is complete abdication of responsibility to the pupils

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A quart from a pint pot…school budgets have been squeezed to the point that the only thing left to tackle is the teaching budget the job of the Senior Management Team has morphed from planning and mobilising the delivery of a quality service by motivated staff, to micro-managing costs and sustaining morale in the face of relentless financial pressure the persistent reduction in revenue budgets will not only affect the pupils of today, but the teachers and the pupils of tomorrow

the short-termism simply has to stop, if there is to be any chance of saving /

recovering Edinburgh’s education services

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A vicious cycle

we are standing on the brink of terminal decline

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Alternative suggestions

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A Curriculum for Excellenceimplementation of ACfE will impose additional burdens on both staff time and resourcesin the absence of dedicated additional funding, it will not be possible to develop good quality courses and study programmesthe implementation could be deferred until sufficient additional funding can be made to ensure a successful transition

this is not a palatable option, but it would be better to do this well later, rather than risk irrevocable failure from a poorly-resourced

implementation

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Infrastructure costsin recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in centralised staff dealing with Educationthe Neighbourhood structures have led to a large number of managerial and secretarial posts a significant infrastructure has grown around quality monitoring and improvement, but this adds little value beyond the existing activities of HMIEthe cost, value and quality of support provided need to be scrutinised

would a smaller number of (potentially higher-paid, but) better quality central roles

deliver a better service than the current arrangement?

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Rationalisation of the estateit is a matter of fact that there are too many schools for the number of pupils in Edinburghrunning under-capacity and ageing buildings consumes a disproportionate share of the budgetif there was adequate provision of quality comprehensive schools, there would be less demand to exercise Parental Choice, and far more equitable distribution of resources urgent and radical rationalisation of the estate,

based on rational analysis of demographics, would yield greater long-term benefit than any localised

budget cuts

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Shared servicesthe sharing of resources should be explored:

between cluster primary schoolsbetween secondary and cluster primary schoolsbetween clusters

efficiencies should be explored across:Head Teachers / Senior Management TeamsBusiness Managers / Bursarsnon-teaching staff

it is very difficult to achieve efficiency improvements in teaching staff; all other

areas should be actively investigated

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Course choicesmany pupils will study Higher and Advanced Higher courses in small classes; others have their choices constrained by the courses on offer in their schoolmany schools make use of college courses or other innovations to expand choiceit may be possible to share out the provision of certain subjects between schools – across Neighbourhoods, or across the cityalthough this may offer efficiencies from class sizes, it will require considerable collaboration on timetabling

a re-think of Senior School provisionmay be necessary

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Alternative fundingmany parents care so much about their children’s education, that they would be willing to contribute additional funding to support its deliverythe success of the independent sector in Edinburgh is a testament to thisthe extent of parental fundraising in the state sector is further evidence however, most parents still believe state education should be free at point of delivery

perhaps the time has come for the Council to admit failure, and explore alternative

funding models?

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Summary

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The bottom lineit is simply not possible for schools to continue to deliver quality and choice to our young people in the context of both previous and proposed future cutsthere is a fundamental mismatch between the objectives of schools and the front-line revenue budget the success of A Curriculum for Excellence, and the future of state education in Edinburgh, hangs in the balance if those responsible for budgeting cannot recognise this, then there is no hope for the current generation of schoolchildren trapped in the state sectorit is time to wake up and smell the coffee