Jobless staff could cost council £500k

More than 20 teachers could be left jobless after the closure of a doomed Black Country school – costing tax-payers almost £500,000 in redundancy payments.

Education bosses admit they will have to fork out a total of £475,000 to the remaining 22 teaching staff at Cradley High if they are not able to find them positions elsewhere in the borough.

They claim the majority of staff who left the school during the last year were given jobs elsewhere and that they expect to do the same for remaining staff. But a report from Dudley education boss John Freeman revealed the plight of the 22 teachers who are still working at the Homer Hill site.

He said: “Should these staff – excluding the head and deputy – not be redeployed, the estimated redundancy costs would be £475,000.”

The potential drain on the cash-strapped council’s accounts would be accommodated within the school’s budget forecast, he said.

Dudley Council spokeswoman Clare Beech said: “The majority of teaching staff to have already left Cradley High over the last 12 months have been found posts elsewhere.

“As with those teachers that have already moved on, we will look to find the remaining 22 positions at other schools in the borough.”

The council signalled the death knell for Cradley High last February after almost 30 years, after it was revealed that the school had fallen around £500,000 into the red.

Dudley education chief, Councillor Liz Walker, had previously refused to give guarantees to staff.

“We will be going to all lengths to avoid any redundancies but is impossible to make any firm promises.

“But what we can say is that we will do everything possible to find alternative employment for staff within the borough,” she said.

Cradley and Foxcote councillor Gaye Partridge has said: “We have some excellent people working at Cradley High and it would be bad news for everyone if any were made redundant.”