A school for deaf children is being forced to axe 20 staff to plug a £650,000 budget shortfall.

The board of directors at the Royal School for Deaf Children has launched a staff consultation but is assuring parents and carers the school and college will not be closing.

The school has to find the six figure sum after the charity approached its bank for support.

The school and college, run by The John Townsend Trust, employs 525 staff and all have taken a 10% pay cut until further notice.

“Staff will be upset and nobody wants this. It’s just the only way we can save money quickly and keep the place going" - Principal Wendy Eadsforth

Principal Wendy Eadsforth said: “At the heart of everything we do, our young people must be kept safe and receive a good quality of education.

“Staff will be upset and nobody wants this. It’s just the only way we can save money quickly and keep the place going.

“Thanet needs to think that without us here 525 people would not have a job. We are a large employer and we are reassuring everyone that we will not be closing.”

Director Neil Oldfield said: “The board and management team are doing all we can to sort this short-term survival issue.

“We’re making the commitment clear that we’re not closing. A lot of parents and carers have fought really hard to get their child here and it is such a relief to have a place that meets their specific needs.

“This is home for a lot of young people and they are the priority, sending them away could be damaging for them.”

Each young person starts at the school or college with money allocated by local authorities, but a reduction in young people being referred has led to financial losses.

Mr Oldfield said: “Last year we had a significant shortfall with expenditure up and income down.

“Over the last five to 10 years, numbers of young people starting at the school are reducing.

“Local authorities are assessing whether the young people with communication difficulties and additional complications can be looked after in a local school.

“We are absolutely determined the children must not suffer and the staff have been so professional and worked very hard since our Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) reports" - Director Neil Oldfield

“We have written to local authorities but they are having issues themselves and we understand that.

“But if these young people aren’t sent to a place which meets their needs they are at risk of suffering mistreatment by other children who may not relate to them.”

Mr Oldfield said it was necessary to look into making redundancies but staff have been
asked to contribute their ideas in the consultation stage.

He said: “Staffing accounts for 90% of our costs and we need to save approximately £650,000 to meet the standards of our regulatory bodies.

“We do not have major donors who can provide money for operating costs, only for supporting capital projects such as the hydrotherapy pool, so we need help.

“We are absolutely determined the children must not suffer and the staff have been so professional and worked very hard since our Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) reports.”

An Ofsted report last November revealed inadequate ratings but the school and college has been inspected twice since, with an adequate rating given eight weeks later and further improvements acknowledged on June 25.

Anyone looking to contact the school with ideas can email enquiries@rsdcm.org.uk.