The Governing Body of Christ the King College have issued a statement to reassure Islanders about an apparent overspend in their budget.
A report has been prepared for the Isle of Wight Council that shows the Carisbrooke-based school as having a large and growing deficit of over £1 million, but Christ the King say the the school’s operating budget is not in deficit.
The budget figure alluded to is the result of the school having to self-fund all of its buildings, including the Sixth Form Centre, in view of there having been no financial support from the Local Authority or Dioceses for their purchase over the years.
The school’s end of year balance would be in a surplus budget situation were it not for the ‘mortgage’ that the school has to pay for all the buildings required on our journey from two middle schools, in middle school buildings, to a full and successful secondary school without financial support.
What is being reported as a ‘deficit’ figure, therefore, includes the payment of all the mortgage costs. When these payments are subtracted, the school’s budget is extremely healthy and will continue to be so, particularly in view of its increasing growth in numbers across all the year groups and its thriving Sixth Form.
It has been of grave concern to the Governing Body that, despite the significant amounts of funding being given to other schools across the Island historically, particularly but not exclusively during the move from the three tier to the two tier system, Christ the King College has not been equitably funded or fairly supported financially. The current officers of the Isle of Wight Council and Hampshire Local Authority are well aware of the situation.
The government funding for our new build under the Priority Schools Building Fund is very welcome and we very much look forward to our students, staff and community having the buildings they so much need and deserve.
Cllr Chris Whitehouse, in whose ward of Newport West the College is located, has backed the College completely, saying:
“The management team at Christ the King College are one of the most financially prudent I have ever met. A problem arises because, compared to other secondary schools on the Island, they have been systematically starved of the capital resources they legitimately need.
“They are the only high school on the Island whose students are still in middle school classrooms, and they received scandalously little help with their sixth form building which they had to self-fund and which is already an absolutely excellent facility. Funding that vital facility is the only reason their budget appears to be in deficit.
“I have every confidence as the local ward councillor for this most excellent facility that it will continue to go from strength to strength as a beacon of educational excellence and professional leadership on the Island.”
The Island’s MP, Andrew Turner, also gave the College his backing saying:
“I have made it clear to Isle of Wight Council officers that in my view Christ the King College has been treated unfairly in terms of its historic funding. It is time this was addressed to allow this first class institution to progress to the next stage in its development. Ofsted have judged that it is currently our only “good” high school and is well on the road, due to excellent leadership, to being an “outstanding” school. That they have done so well despite such difficult financial circumstances is testament to the quality of the team there.”
