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School leaders have said they have to weigh student safety against financial stability as their budgets have been stretched to the limit by the burden of the coronavirus pandemic ahead of the full reopening in England this week.
Principals have been left in a bind by the closure in July of a government support fund that has not reopened in time for the uncertain return of millions of students to classrooms.
This year’s £ 47.6bn school funding would need an injection of at least £ 2.38bn if Covid-19-related costs account for just 5% of spending, according to calculations by the NASUWT teachers union. This is in addition to the large-scale investment in child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) that local authorities and academic trusts say they will need.
Funding concerns arise when education secretary Gavin Williamson used an open letter to parents in England on Sunday to urge them to send their children to school on Tuesday.
Acknowledging that some may have concerns about their children’s attendance for the first time since March, he insisted that schools were safe and that detailed measures were put in place to minimize infection. The health risk that Covid-19 poses to children is extremely low, he said.
School leaders who spoke to The Guardian, however, described how desperately changing budgets, putting aside projects and plans, and getting by on a fraction of what was required.
Paul Gosling from Exeter Road Community Primary School in Devon said he ideally would have liked to have a cleaner on site starting this week to cover the shared spaces, but it would have cost £ 15,000 at a school whose budget could only be balanced at the end of the year after many years of cuts.
“I can’t plan on having a cleaner in place if I have no idea if I will be able to claim against the fund, so I am balancing security with financial stability,” he said.
The government fund for schools on the coronavirus, which was introduced to cover the exceptional costs associated with the pandemic, closed on July 21. A notice on its website says there are plans to open a “second claims window” in the fall.
Simon Kidwell, director of Hartford Manor Primary School and Nursery School in Cheshire, said he needed to find £ 50,000 to cover the costs. This was after spending £ 16,000 to make the school ‘covid safe’, including £ 11,500 for the installation of 37 hand washing stations. Losses included £ 7,000 in daycare fees, £ 21,000 for before and after school care and a £ 10,000 decrease in fundraising due to canceled events.
“The government says that full opening of schools is its number one priority, however there are no plans to support schools with additional Covid-related costs for the new academic year,” he said.
Rebecca Poole, Principal of Hampton High in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, said: “Our funding is really tight. Our business manager has had to cut other parts of our school budget and it was really only because we felt it was a top priority and other things would have to be put aside.
“We have set aside £ 10,000 for the laptops needed for remote learning after our IT manager negotiated some deals, but it’s really complicated. I know all the budget lines and literally it’s all about carrying £ 500 from one budget line to another to pay. There will be things that we cannot invest in. “
NASUWT teachers outlined the budget constraints that special wipes mean for cleaning desks, chairs, and other surfaces that are already abandoned and replaced with makeshift solutions. Others spoke of getting worse for schools that are already in debt, the burden of having to invest in more IT to prepare for remote learning, and costs like hiring more teachers for smaller classes.
“Schools face significant additional costs in terms of providing PPE, additional cleaning regimes, signage, and supporting changes to the school day. These are not one-time costs, but will be additional expenses that schools will need to continue to derive from their budgets as long as Covid-19 remains in circulation, ”said Dr. Patrick Roach, NASUWT Secretary General.
“Many of our members have expressed to us their concern that their schools will have a difficult time meeting these costs, particularly in the context of years of cuts in education budgets. Schools must be assured that they will be provided with the additional financial and practical resources they need to remain open without reducing safety. “
A spokesperson for the Department of Education said: “The principals, teachers and school staff have done everything possible to ensure that children can safely return to their classes when the new term begins, as it is the best place for their education, development and well-being.
Throughout the pandemic, schools have continued to receive their primary funding, and this year marks the first year of a three-year total cash increase of £ 14.4 billion. Schools have also been able to claim specific one-off costs, such as the additional cleaning required due to confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases, worth up to £ 75,000 for large secondary schools. “
The department said the schools had been eligible to claim costs incurred between March and July as a result of pressures such as increases associated with keeping schools open during the Easter and summer holidays and providing free school meals for eligible children who do not they are in school.
Parallel Education Secretary Kate Green said: “If schools don’t get additional resources, children across the country will pay the bill, with resources that should fund their education rather than pay for public health measures because the government is refuses to do so. “
