 Nick Christou: The announcement cut his deficit by a third |
Head teachers say the education secretary's solution to the funding crisis is a short-term one which might stave off the need for redundancies - but leave them with crumbling buildings. Charles Clarke has told schools they can draw on their building funds to meet shortfalls in their budgets this year.
He has said there will be an announcement to clarify school budgets for 2004-05 to prevent a repeat of this year's problems.
But some heads, like Nick Christou in Barnet, are still looking at a massive deficit.
 I would rather have leaky roofs than no staff  Nick Christou, head teacher |
Mr Christou, head teacher of East Barnet School, told BBC News Online: "I have about �90,000 in my buildings fund which I will now use. "But it does not solve my problem as my deficit was �300,000. So I still have a deficit of �200,000."
He had planned to spent a large chunk of his building money on fixing the school's leaky roofs.
"I recently got a quote to cover the roofs. But I would rather have leaky roofs than no staff"
Mr Christou said the education secretary seemed to have recognised there was a real problem now and should do more to solve it.
 Crumbling buildings at The Beacon School |
He has set an illegal budget rather than make teachers redundant at his school. Surrey head teacher John Darker says he does not even have enough money to carry out essential repairs.
The Beacon School has �48,000 to spend on building and repairs but it is all earmarked. Rendering is coming away from buildings.
"The consequences would be that some rendering could fall on a student so we would have provided a short-term fix but we will have put the students in dangerand that is not acceptable," he said.
To cover the school's shortfall, it is losing its head of music, is planning to close early one day a week and have fewer lessons.
Sue Sayles, the head teacher of Riccall Community Primary in North Yorkshire says the government's intervention provides just a "drop in the ocean".
"The building money we have is already committed to refurbish the computer suite.
"The government's action reminds me of the boy with his finger in the dyke and it is about to collapse," she told BBC News Online.
The Secondary Heads Association welcomed the government's announcement but said it did not solve the underlying problems of the school funding system.
The organisation's general secretary John Dunford said: "The funding crisis this year has been so serious in some places that a significant minority of secondary schools will remain in deficit and I regret that the government has not put in extra money to enable a line to be drawn under this year's problems."
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