Education reforms look to be ‘cost neutral’
Moving Argyll and Bute schools into clusters led by an executive head would result in neither cost-savings or increased expenditure, according to education chiefs.
Speaking on Tuesday, Argyll and Bute Council education manager for transformation Louise Connor said the school collective proposals were expected to be ‘cost neutral’ meaning the council expected no changes to be made to the education budget if the new scheme was implemented.
The proposals commit the council to putting more teachers in classrooms and closing no schools, but with falling school rolls predicted to decline further, and resources allocated according to pupil numbers, concerns have been raised as to how the budget can be balanced. Launching its petition against the proposals, the EIS teaching union said: ‘We believe these changes are simply a cost-cutting exercise that will not empower schools and support attainment but rather will damage educational delivery, quality and equity in Argyll and Bute.’
When asked how the proposals would be cost neutral, Ms Connor explained that teachers’ pay grades would be reviewed in line with changes to their roles as well as pupil numbers in their class.
She added that some headteachers would also be expected to retire within the transition period.
‘Job sizing will be critical if the proposals are to be implemented,’ Ms Connor said.
Council documents explain that job sizing takes into account the size of schools, leadership roles and teaching time when deciding on the salary scale for promoted posts in education.
‘Headteachers retiring would also form part of the modelling,’ Ms Connor added.
‘If a school collective was agreed where there were, for example, seven headteachers then two might be retiring and that would form part of the model. Until collectives are looked at in more detail, we can’t have a clear idea of staff numbers.’
As part of the consultation process, due to finish at the end of January, the council has shared its proposals with parent groups and community councils. Feedback from the consultation is to be presented to Argyll and Bute Council in April. This will be followed by the proposals being voted on towards the end of 2022 and, if approved, interim processes to bring in the changes would begin in spring 2023.
At Tuesday’s meeting it was explained, however, that the consultation will continue throughout the process with pupils, parents and educators being included in the process throughout. Dialogue is continuing with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Argyll and the Isles concerning faith schools in school collectives.
These discussions were described by council officers as ‘ongoing’ and ‘collaborative’.
Concerns were also raised about the timing of the proposed changes, coming when pupils’ education and wellbeing had been impacted by the pandemic.
Acting head of education, learning and teaching Wendy Brownlie said: ‘Young people’s views have been gathered throughout and they have expressed really interesting points both for and against the changes.’
The consultation paper addresses the issue of the pandemic by saying: ‘The last couple of years have been extraordinarily challenging for schools. But we need to keep thinking long term.’