TWO Flixton special schools could be hit by a raft of redundancies – and a parent support group is hitting out at being left in the dark.

Trafford Alternative Education is proposing to cut staff at Trafford High School (THS) and Trafford Medical Education Service (TEMS).

THS caters for children aged 5-16 years with medical or mental health difficulties and TMES for pupils aged 11-16 who have been prevented from attending mainstream school due to medical needs.

‘Budget pressures’ sparked a review of the schools’ financial situation and it was found that despite an underspend being brought forward of almost £200,000, both centres were heading for a significant overspend for 2015/16.

Redundancies and a staff restructure were deemed necessary and a proposal was put forward to pool staff and redesign the senior leadership team.

According to consultation documents, 16.16 full time staff are employed at THS and 11.75 at TMES.

If the proposal is implemented, there would be a net reduction of 8.5 staff members at THS, including two learning mentors, and 7.5 at TMES, including four home tutors. Some roles split across the sites would also be created.

This would bring the cost down to £906,672 – a saving of £211,298.

A staff consultation on the redundancies ended at the weekend.

Trafford Parents Forum, a support group for parents and carers of those with special educational needs (SEN), heard about the changes on the grapevine.

Director Justine Bailey said: “In our opinion, at best it is an oversight not informing the forum or parents of a consultation and at worst, the service and the local authority have actively ignored their obligation to work fully in a co-productive manner with young people, parent carers and the forum.

“Co-production is not a selective process it is an attitude change which needs to be embraced and embedded fully in order to be successful.

“Considering Cllr Hyman made reference to co-production and good communication with parent carers and the forum at the full council meeting held on September 6, we can only conclude going forward the forum will be fully informed and involved in this matter.

“We also need to highlight that the local authority has a legal obligation to meet their Public Sector Equality Duty and to follow clear guidance around consultations.”

A spokesperson for Trafford High School and The Medical Education Service said: “The governing body has met on this issue and has decided to implement a staffing restructure.

"A full consultation process is being undertaken with all appropriate parties including staff and trade unions.

"The restructure is to ensure that the school is financially sustainable and continues to provide high quality provision for our young people.”

Trafford Parents Forum said it is awaiting official confirmation of the statutory consultation dates for parent carers.

In the meantime, the forum welcomes any contact with the parent carers or family members of the young people affected. Contact the forum on traffordparentsforum@gmail.com or visit traffordparentsforum.org