THE headteacher of a school facing a £1.2 million debt has said staffing teams are “down to the bone” and has insisted “not a penny” is wasted.

Lana Picton, headteacher at Caerleon Comprehensive School, was called in to face Newport council’s audit committee on Thursday after auditors found 25 significant weaknesses and one critical weakness – this being the school’s financial position.

The school is predicting an overspend of £1.2 million for this financial year – the highest of any in Newport.

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A recovery plan is in place - but due to budget cuts and rising costs it will not make up the deficit.

At the meeting on Thursday, Mrs Picton said the school has the lowest per-pupil funding of all Newport secondary schools, and the seventh lowest in Wales.

Budgets have been slashed by £555,000 since 2017, forcing the school to make a number of cuts.

But Cllr Herbie Thomas questioned why debts at the school had continued to rise.

“It does seem to me that you do not take that drastic step that you do not want to, and I know why you do not want to because it is difficult,” he said.

But Mrs Picton said cuts are being made every year.

She said eight teachers had left over the last three years, seven business administration staff had gone and cleaners had left and not been replaced.

“We have made cuts on every team, every team is down to the bone,” Mrs Picton said.

Cllr Kate Thomas questioned why the school’s debt is higher than elsewhere.

“All schools have had to make voluntary redundancies, and somehow or other they are making those decisions and nobody is looking at this sort of projected deficit for the end of the year,” she said.

But Mrs Picton said the deficit is despite redundancies and cuts being made.

“I can reassure you that cuts have been made and will continue to be made,” she said. “My only fear as headteacher is the impact on pupils at the school.

“I can assure you there is not a penny in Caerleon that is wasted.”

Concerns over ‘gaps’ in the minutes of governing body meetings were also raised by auditors, with no evidence the school’s budget for last year had been approved.

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Mrs Picton said the budget was approved, but that it did not appear in the minutes.

The school has since appointed and trained a new minute-taker.

Concerns around DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks not being completed prior to staff starting work were also addressed.

One case involved a “late appointment” of a teacher who had a DBS from another authority.

The teacher did not have a Newport DBS check at the time of attending an inset day – however one was in place on the day she started teaching.

The audit committee accepted the assurances made by the headteacher that improvements will be made.

A follow up audit visit to the school will also be made within six months.