Incoming principal at Budmouth College David Herbet has said additional financial support is required so the Weymouth senior school can move forward successfully.

It comes after councillors heard more than half a million pounds may have to come out of the Dorset Council budget to pay for debts at Budmouth.

Liberal Democrat leader on the council, Nick Ireland, claims the figure might rise to £700,000.

Councillors at their first meeting on Thursday were told that there was little they could do to stop the process of the school being run by the Aspirations Academy in September.

Education spokesman Andrew Parry said he was not in a position to confirm or deny the figures but said it was almost inevitable that the take-over of the school would happen.

He said that the process was legally watertight and the only route to appeal would be to the Secretary of State for Education, who had yet to reject any similar application.

Parents protested outside the meeting and with Sara Greenhalf, from the school protest group, telling councillors during the public session: “With Aspirations Academy Trust currently running with insufficient reserves, and with the situation at Atlantic Academy... how does this bode for Budmouth College’s future?

“Job losses are imminent at Budmouth with redundancies paid for by Dorset Council. The curriculum is under threat of loss of subjects. No Ofsted inspections have been carried out since September.”

She said that the group now had over 400 members opposing the move for Budmouth to Aspirations Academy and more than 600 had signed a petition against it.

She asked the council to help reject the take over or at least delay it while a case could be prepared for an alternative plan.

Cllr Parry believed a restructuring of the staff was necessary at Budmouth with wages taking up 93 per cent of the budget and denied that the council had agreed to underwrite any of the debts – saying that would be up to a future cabinet meeting.

He added that, in the current situation, some subjects at the college might no longer be viable, telling the council that an Ofsted inspection at Budmouth was ‘imminent.’

Green Party leader on the council Clare Sutton from Weymouth said she shared the concerns of parents about the take-over and was fearful for the impact it might have on pupils with additional needs. She also claimed there was no evidence to support the belief that academy schools performed better than any other.

Cllr Nick Ireland said he believed the school had now ‘turned the corner’ and could not understand why the academy route was being backed: “I also note that the multi-academy trust which is intending to take over the school, which has admitted it has a daily shortfall in meeting its running costs, and states in its last annual report the intention to only expand by assimilating existing academies or free schools, has recently taken over two ‘failing’ schools and now got Budmouth in its sights...

"It seems perverse that the council tax of Dorset Council residents should be spent on handing over a historically successful school with valuable assets to a private concern.”

'Financial support is required'

Incoming principal at Budmouth David Herbet said: “It is obviously regrettable that Budmouth is in a situation where additional financial support is required in order that we can move forward successfully as the large 11-18 college that we are.

“School funding is a source of much national debate and some specific circumstances at Budmouth means that the college has felt the impact more greatly’

As reported, staff at Budmouth College are facing job cuts as the school aims to reduce its wage bill ahead of the new school year.

Support staff at the college were notified by a letter that the Interim Executive Board (IEB) of the college is “faced with the decision of reducing teaching and support staff” by September 1.

The college wants to make a saving of £600,000-£700,000 on staffing costs, which currently makes up 93 per cent of the college’s overall spending for the upcoming year.

The Echo has been told that, while support staff roles are at risk, the reduction in teaching roles has come from Budmouth not replacing staff who have left.

A source also claimed that Budmouth plans to drop the subject of IT at Key Stage 3, despite computing being on the National Curriculum.