Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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403. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the problems in a school (details supplied) in respect of the allocation of resources applied to this school; the reason for the allocation of resource hours to this DEIS band 1school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46684/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The criteria used for the allocation of teaching posts is published annually on the Department website. The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level is the staffing schedule for the relevant school year and pupil enrolments on the previous 30 September.

The staffing schedule operates in a clear and transparent manner and treats all similar types of schools equally irrespective of location.

The staffing schedule also includes an appeals mechanism for schools to submit an appeal under certain criteria to an independent Appeals Board. Details of the criteria for appeal are contained in the staffing schedule, Circular 0017/2017.

Scoil Cheathrair Alainn submitted an application to the April meeting of the Appeals Board under two separate criterion, English as an additional language teaching posts (Temporary EAL Posts) and School losing 3 or more posts. The Appeals Board determined that the school was entitled to 1 Temporary EAL post and that these appeals did not warrant the allocation of any further additional posts for the 2017/18 school year. The school has been notified accordingly.

The Primary Staffing Appeals Board operates independently of the Department and its decision is final.

DES Circular 0013/2017 for primary schools and 0014/2017 for post-primary schools were published on 7th March 2017.

These Circulars set out the details of the new model for allocating special education teachers to schools.

The revised allocation process replaces the generalised allocation process at primary and post-primary school level for learning support and high incidence special educational needs, and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) allocation process which provided additional resource teaching supports to schools, to support pupils assessed as having Low Incidence disabilities.

The new Special Education Teaching allocation provides a single unified allocation for special educational support teaching needs to each school, based on each school’s educational profile.

Under the new allocation model, schools have been provided with a total allocation for special education needs support based on their school profile.

Included within this is an allocation for:

- A school educational profile component; which includes:

-An allocation for pupils with complex needs

-The learning support needs in schools as evidenced by attainment levels in standardised test results

-The social context of the school including disadvantage and gender

- Baseline component provided to every mainstream school to support inclusion, prevention of learning difficulties and early intervention.

The provision of a profiled allocation is designed to give a fairer allocation for each school which recognises that all schools need an allocation for special needs support, but which provides a graduated allocation which takes into account the actual level of need in each school.

The special education teaching allocation provided for this school for 2017/18 was 213.85 hours.

The profiling model had indicated a profiled special educational need for this school, relative to that of other schools, of 190 teaching hours.

However, as no school received an allocation, on the introduction of the new model, which was less than the allocation they received in the previous school year, the school maintained an allocation of 213.85 hours, while it was indicated that within this allocation there was a retained element of 23.85 hrs.

There has therefore been no reduction to the special education teaching allocation for this school for the 2017/18 school year.

This allocation equates to over 8.5 full-time additional Special Education Teachers, which is a very significant allocation for a school of this size, and which recognises that there are significant learning needs in the school.

It is acknowledged and accepted that schools will have some additional pupils with special educational needs enrolling to their school subsequent to the profiles having been developed.

However, for the most part these will be balanced by the fact that some students who had additional teaching needs in the previous year will have left the school. The baseline is also designed to ensure that schools have some capacity to provide additional support to pupils.