GOVERNORS and staff at Ilkley Grammar School are confident that its budget problems will be sorted out in the next few weeks.

As revealed exclusively in the Gazette last year, the school had its bank account 'frozen' by education bosses in a desperate bid to reduce an expected £300,000 overspend by April.

Just a few weeks into the academic year the school was prevented from spending money on books, stationery, equipment, non-emergency building repairs or special projects.

But further talks between governors and education bosses, as well as the release of extra funding by Bradford Council, has eased the pressure on the school leading to the lifting of spending restrictions, according to head teacher Peter Wood and the governors' chairman John Cockshott.

In the school newsletter, Mr Wood says: "We have been told that an extra £3 million will be added in each of the next three years in addition to an extra £2 million carrying through from last year."

Mr Wood said that the funding issue had been complicated by the extra staff needed when the expanded school split into two sites in September.

He also says that the formula by which education officials allocated money to each school had not yet been worked out.

"We must now wait until March to find out how the additional funding will affect this school," says Mr Wood.

He adds: "The restrictions which have been placed on the school's spending since August have now been lifted. This is all very positive news.

"The constraints were not a major hindrance, since most of our spending on books, stationery and equipment had taken place before they were imposed. They were nevertheless a considerable irritant, both on account of the extra work they imposed on staff and because no-one particularly likes working under such restrictions."

Uncertainty over the costs of the schools reorganisation led to Bradford education boss Diana Cavanagh sending out a warning to schools in the district not to overspend.

Ilkley Grammar was one of eight schools - around one third of upper schools in the district - which received a warning about budget deficits.

Soon after the warning was issued Bradford announced an extra £1,000,000 worth of funding available for schools to ease their financial worries.

Mr Cockshott praised the local education authority officials for their commonsense and flexibility in helping to school to improve its financial position.

Mr Cockshott also told the Gazette that there would be no immediate change of name for the school when Bradford's reorganisation from the three to a two-tier system of education is completed.

He said that a consideration of a name change had been put on the back burner for two or three years in the interests of stability for pupils, parents, staff and governors.

Mr Cockshott said: "In all the circumstances it would not be prudent to add that to all the other things that are changing."

A council education spokesman said: "The extra money the council is putting into education, together with the efforts Ilkley Grammar has made to manage its budget in the best possible way, has meant that the school is now able to comply with the new legislation concerning deficit budgets and the spending restrictions have been lifted.

"The legislation states that local authorities can allow schools to carry deficit budgets only in exceptional circumstances, and then only if the school concerned can show that it will repay the deficit within three years.

"The council is putting an extra £5 million into education in 2000-2001 and a further £9 million in each of the following two years to help to raise standards of achievement in the district."

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