SCHOOL leaders in future will usually have to face difficult decisions around class size, the number of teachers, pastoral and support levels, organisation of back office arrangements as well as considering the breadth of curriculum, a report has warned.

Senior North Yorkshire County Council officers have issued the alert to the authority’s young people’s scrutiny committee, adding there are “no easy answers or routes to additional funding” for schools,

The report states school projections show a deterioration in aggregate school balances – reducing to a £4.7m surplus by March 2020, then reducing to an aggregate deficit position of £6.8m by March 2021, and then reducing to an aggregated deficit position of £20.8m by March 2022.

The report states: “This is a concerning trend and, if left unchecked, would significantly impact individual schools and the local authority’s financial position.”

The council’s executive member for education, Councillor Patrick Mulligan said: “The National Funding Formula has effectively downgraded the financial support provided to rural secondary schools.”

And Cllr Mulligan added: “We will continue to work proactively with a range of individual schools to avoid deficits wherever possible and to develop robust recovery plans.”