Plans for the first “strike” of school governors have prompted a warning about the morale of volunteers who are being forced to make school staff redundant as budgets tighten. Governors in West Sussex have written to MPs threatening to stop signing off budgets and carrying out supervisory work in protest over a growing school funding crisis. In their letter, seen by the BBC, governors have expressed “shock and incomprehension” about what funding cuts will mean for their schools. According to teaching unions, the county faces budget cuts of more than £28 million over the next two years, equivalent to £287 for each pupil. Although governors are not employees, they can refuse to carry out their duties, which include oversight of recruitment. The “strike”, believed to be the first of its kind in England, has prompted a warning from a senior governance expert who feels that being forced to make tough financial decisions could put off volunteers. Morale in the governance community was “not high at the moment, and hasn’t been over the past year or so” Emma Knights, chief executive of the National Governance Association, said the action in West Sussex was a “good PR tactic” to highlight governors’ funding…http://schoolsweek.co.uk/governors-in-west-sussex-plan-strike-over-school-funding/