Knock-on financial impacts of school funding crisis

[higgledypuggledy]

Both my DCs are active in local sports clubs that use secondary school sports facilities. There's a massive fee hike next term, being put down to increased hall hire charges. I don't blame the schools, but felt the need to shout out about these hidden impacts of the current crisis.

We're already inputting significant monthly voluntary contributions to our local schools, and this is an increase in that. Of course it will prevent some families from taking on extra-curricular activities.

I'd much rather taxes were raised in an open transparent manner, and used to fund schools properly.

My daughter does drama which is held in a school on a Saturday. Increase in fees because of venue hire increases.
We could chose for her not to do any extra curricular activities but on the other hand having a consuming passion is good for a 15 year old and stope her hanging around on street corners
Not sure when government are going to eventually twig that austerity is not a spybd economic policy. Except of course it is policy which keeps wealth with the few.

Sound....not spybd....wtf

I am sure that everyone would like tax payers to pay for everything including sport and clubs. This has never been the case in this country, at any time in the recent or distant past. A drama club could move to another hall not connected with a school. A church hall? Most of us accept that when we have children there are additinal costs not funded by taxation. The school "cuts" are a redistribution of funds to underfunded schools. My LA wins a bit with this. Parents have had to pay for extras for years - the economic rate too.

Rubbish Bubbles. The "cuts" are nothing to do with the redistribution (which is, or at least should be, a separate debate). They are to do with unfunded increases in unavoidable costs.

Drama can move to a church hall. Basketball can't.

I never said schools shouldn't charge for hall hire, so it's a bit dumb of you to imply that I did, but when monthly club fees go up by 40% because schools are forced to charge more then community participation in sport will suffer.

Lots of "cuts" are due to a redistribution of the funding via the new formula. There are winners and losers. We are not putting up
our hall rentals by 40%. Sorry if this is an inconvenient truth. There are also too many children but numbers bring money into schools. They don't detract. Also schools have massive bills for supply teachers because they cannot find permanent staff. It is not just "cuts" that are causing this. There are sports centres for basketball that are not attached to schools. Perhaps they are cheaper.

Funny but I've never actually seen anyone here saying their school has benefited from the "redistribution" of funding. It's almost like that's a lie the government tell to cover up the sweeping cuts they're making

Nobody has said clubs should be free. Or that schools shouldn't charge venue hire. Just observed that this is an area where schools are trying to recoup a little of their lost funding.

It's unfortunate that the increased fees will mean some children can no longer take part in clubs and sports. And those will often be the children who benefit the most from being involved in sports and clubs outside of schools.

By the way there us currently no redistribution. I say this as the chair of governors in a school that is in one of the worst funded areas in the country. Cuts are just cuts. With more imposed. Most people don't realise that schools have to absorb rates increases and indeed the apprentice levy that most schools see no benefit from.
No one here said the tax payer should subsidise children's optional activities - it was a noticing that schools are raising hire fees as a way of generating income.
By the way halls (not schools) have also raised their fees in my area.

I would guess that schools will be anticipating a steep rise in gas and electricity bills next term due to energy price rises - evening and weekend users of their halls are bound to see an increase in hire charges.

In some cases they've got a monopoly on the type of facility in the town, for example there's only one all weather hockey pitch here, at the local secondary school, our highly successful club has nowhere else to go and the school can therefore raise their hire charges confident that they will keep the business. However if club fees rise, membership falls, bookings are cut back, no one wins.

In some cases, schools have probably been undercharging in the past. I know of one case where this happened. The school let a local club use its sports hall very cheaply in the evenings until someone on the governing body realised that this was costing them money. The fee they charged didn't cover the cost of the electricity and paying the caretaker to open and lock up.

Of course, asking for voluntary contributions only works for schools that have parents that can afford to do it.
My children's schools [primary and secondary] are in areas considered disadvantaged- ain't gonna work...Schools would not have gall to ask despite struggling financially.
School down the road- well does work and school will benefit.

My school will get more money from the new formula. There are some winners. The LA is also putting more into SEN. 50/50
split between schools and SEN.

We have suggested rental rates from the LA. They have not gone up by 40% but most schools follow the guidelines and cover their costs - for obvious reasons.