Cash crisis hits top-performing high school

St Wilfrid's High School - the top performing secondary school in Blackburn - is expecting to exceed its budget for teaching staff by £37,000 next year.

It is also bracing itself for a loss of £39,000 because it over-anticipated the number of sixth form pupils expected to enrol.

Repairs at the crumbling Church of England school - which opted out of county council control to go grant-maintained - are also stripping the bank balance, a letter to teachers says.

It also warns of other potential cuts in government funding of £22,000 or more.

The letter, leaked to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, says as a result of the cash crisis governors aim to employ 82 full time teachers in 1998. St Wilfrid's currently employs 94.3.

It points out the governors' redundancy policy to staff and warns: "Every effort will be made to avoid compulsory redundancy and to ensure that cuts are across the board." Head teacher Linda Robinson tells staff the crisis may result in larger classes, deterioration of staff and pupils' morale and a likely fall in results.

She ends the letter by saying: "I am sorry to start the year on such a gloomy note."

But Mrs Robinson told the Lancashire Evening Telegraph everything possible was being done to avoid the cuts.

She said: "This letter was an internal memo for staff as part of our aim to keep them informed of situations that arise.

"None of these cuts has been confirmed yet and we are still at a very early stage.

"Everything that can be done to avoid redundancies will be done. I do want to stress that nothing has been confirmed and we are nowhere near finalising figures yet."

A worried teacher, who passed on the confidential letter, added: "I am very concerned that this may well be the death knell."

The school is still searching for a new site two years after first launching a bid for an up-to-date building.

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