The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Fury at school budgets being tapped for sanitiser and PPE
Fife schools have had to cut back on photocopying and educational resources as budgets are tapped to pay for hand sanitiser and PPE.
Labour MSP Alex Rowley said it was not acceptable head teachers were having to choose between supporting education and investing in safety equipment.
Fife Council said all coronavirusrelated costs incurred by schools would be reimbursed as quickly as possible via a new fund being set up by the Scottish Government.
However, Mr Rowley said the PPE materials should be made available now so school budgets did not need to be touched.
“I have been told by teachers and parents that school budgets are having to be used for this purpose and things like photocopying have been stopped as there is no money.
“This means already-tight budgets that are meant to be used to support children’s education are being diverted into buying PPE and sanitiser and this is not acceptable.
“The current situation is tough enough for schools and the council should, therefore, have a co-ordinated approach to making these materials available and not just tell schools they must use local budgets meant for supporting teaching and learning.”
The council’s head of education and children’s services, Carrie Lindsay, confirmed in a letter to Mr Rowley Covid-related costs for all services were being charged to the relevant services for now while national funding was still being finalised.
Education convener, SNP councillor Fay Sinclair, added: “All schools in Fife have access to vital resources for learning and teaching and Fife Council is closely monitoring all spend to ensure this remains the case.
“The Scottish Government is providing funds to cover coronavirusrelated costs for schools.
“In relation to PPE and other logistical costs for schools, the Scottish Government has recently announced a total of £50m funding nationally.
“While council services, including schools, have incurred Covid-19 related spend, including the provision of PPE, these are tagged with an identifier so that they can be reimbursed as quickly as possible.”