Parents and staff at a Hove primary school have been kept in the dark over plans for it to become an academy.
Brighton and Hove News understands governors at West Blatchington Primary School are in advanced talks with the Pioneer Academy Trust, which took over Moulsecoomb Primary this year despite months of furious campaigning against it.
Staff only found out when representatives of the academy chain were seen at the school last week.
Education unions have now written to governors to warn them any moves will be met with stiff resistance – and local politicians have called on the school to give parents a say before any decision is made.
Hangleton councillor Nick Lewry, who has a child at the school himself, said: “Nobody’s been told about it. As a parent I think we should be consulted on to see what our views are.
“Even as councillors we have not been told about this out of courtesy.
“Consultations should be carried out by the school governors and then we can give feedback which they can give consideration to before making a decision.”
Matt Webb from Unison said: “It was arguably always going to be question of time before the Pioneer Academy Trust set their sights on further schools across our.
“Their economic model requires them to swallow up more and more community schools in order to pay their bosses massively disproportionate and unregulated salaries from money that would have otherwise be spent in classrooms.
“I don’t think that parents and the community are going to be any more enthralled than the staff to see children’s education funding used to pay for a CEO who pays himself more than the prime minister.
“The community of Hove saw off plans to turn Hove Park into an academy many years ago and that was before the full horror of academy chains were as well known.
“I have no doubt that they will be every bit as furious as the staff who are going to find this out not from their employer or the local authority, but from the media.”
Mark Turner from the GMB said: “We have written to the school and the governing body advising them that if they do decide to go down that route, we will resist in the strongest way.
“Pioneer came into Brighton for one reason – they took Moulsecoomb Primary School to progress their foothold in this area.”
Hove MP Peter Kyle said: “The rumour of an academy takeover is part of a bigger picture regarding concerns about staff workloads, budgets and lack of support for teachers and staff from the local authority.
“I love West Blatchington Primary, and truly think it’s an amazing place. But if we don’t start investing in supporting staff then academy chains are always going to look and be interested.
There is no way the school governors will have pursued this without knowledge from Brighton and Hove Education Services. They will not admit to this. The people in charge, who I could name but won’t, need to be asked directly not via the press office. They have no staff to support schools – they got rid of them all years ago for a cheaper school supporting school model that doesn’t work. The local authority used to be a strength but since 2015, it has become progressively weaker and unable to do its job. That’s why academies float round like vultures. They’re in it for money and not anything else. A CEO for one across Birmingham earns over £300k and doesn’t do a lot except run meetings to discuss brand promotion. It’s getting like Dubai! Money is top-sliced from every academy school budget. Staff contracts and conditions are eroded. I’d want to see the full budget report for Moulsecoomb rather than the hype. A lot of schools support with uniforms due to good budget management, which isn’t hard.