 | | Question: We have been informed that we will have a redundancy in January. At present we have an acting headteacher (bought in by County) and a deputy who is in the office three days a week. How can we possibly afford this when we only have seven classes? We have been asking this question since October, and are now told that a redundancy is imminent. Not one governor could turn up to the meeting to tell us this.
Can we have a vote of no confidence in our governing body for letting us get into this situation? They must have had some idea of the budget before now. We have seen no minutes from any governors meetings for over a year.
Joan Sallis replies: I would need to know more to comment on the decision to announce a redundancy: the governing body have to approve a decision on the basis of the facts given to them, which I don’t have. They are responsible for spending the budget allotted in the most effective way. You are suggesting, perhaps, that other aspects of the budget use are extravagant?
Well, a few points. Seven classes (sounds like a one form entry infant and junior school, very common) is not a small school and would definitely need a full-time and probably only minimally-teaching head. It would be quite common to have a full-time deputy but with a considerable teaching commitment, and if the school really has to make a full-time teacher redundant the head would also have to do some teaching across the school.
Some clever timetabling may be needed to make a whole teacher redundant but with more specialist teaching tending to happen in primary schools this isn’t impossible. I just feel that you need more information to react to this and that of course is one of your complaints. In fairness we are still six weeks or so away from the end of the school year and I hope your school will inform you properly of major proposals.
I always get a bit uncomfortable about ‘votes of no confidence’. They feature often on this site and generally are hot air. Even if they are not they don’t often achieve very much except relieving feelings. The governing body is legally responsible for the school budget though they are not able to influence the amount, which usually reflects possibly changing numbers of children. They are not obliged to consult parents though they would be wise to inform them fully about any problems.
As for minutes, it is not compulsory or normal for them to be circulated but they are public documents (with any items of a private individual nature left out) and can be viewed in the school at any time by anybody on request, even members of the public. Confidential items about individuals will not be included in the published version.
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