Scottish Borders Local Association

School staff in Borders given their jotters

CASH-strapped schools across the Borders will have their budgets slashed if councillors don’t rubber-stamp a radical shake-up of children’s services today (Thursday).

Scottish Borders Council’s deputy leader, Councillor Neil Calvert, issued the warning ahead of their meeting at local authority headquarters in Newtown St Boswells tomorrow (Thursday).

They are being asked to approve a total of 136 recommendations as part of the Transforming Children’s Services review in a bid to save £4 million over the next three years.

However, with proposals to cut teaching posts, scrap school janitors, share school heads and an unknown number of compulsory redundancies, councillors – who have an £8m hole in their budget - are under-pressure from parents, teachers and unions to reject the plans.

Speaking to the Border Telegraph at a special media briefing on Monday, Councillor Calvert – the council’s finance spokesman – said: “The status quo is not an option.

“If this report is not approved we would have to make some reductions in the DSM (Desolved School Management) budgets and that would be much more difficult because schools would potentially be left with the same staffing structures but have less cash to cope.”

The proposals to create six new learning communities, which include a new integrated additional needs service, were originally developed through a major council project to review all its services to children and young people.

They were refined and developed following a 19-week public consultation earlier this year.

Glenn Rodger, the council’s director of education, said: “This work will assist in delivering more joined up locally-based services for children and will bring about some fairly radical changes as to how our children are taught in future – for the better.”

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