School leaders have said they are having to weigh up pupil safety against financial stability because their budgets have been stretched to breaking point by the burden of the coronavirus pandemic ahead of full reopening in England this week.
Headteachers have been left in a bind by the closure in July of a government support fund that has not reopened in time for the uncertain return of millions of students to classrooms.
This year’s school funding of £47.6bn would need an injection of at least £2.38bn if Covid-19 related costs account for as little as 5% of expenditure, according to calculations by the teachers union NASUWT. This is in addition to the large-scale investment in child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) that local authorities and academy trusts say they will need.
The concerns over funding come as the education secretary, Gavin Williamson, used an open letter to parents in England on Sunday to urge them to send their children to school on Tuesday.