A NUMBER of jobs are feared to be under threat to stave off a funding crisis at Machynlleth’s Ysgol Bro Hyddgen.

Cllr Gareth Jones said he had been informed that staff at the school had been sent letters warning that staffing cuts were needed to address a savings target of around £200,000 with staff warned that if volunteers to take redundancy were not found, compulsory redundancies would have to be considered.

The claim comes just weeks after Machynlleth Town Council was told that Powys County Council was confident of winning funding for a new £20m school at Ysgol Bro Hyddgen.

Cllr Jones said the threat of staff cuts raised serious questions over how the school can maintain a dual language stream curriculum along with fears over staff workloads.

He said: “I am given to understand that all staff at Ysgol Bro Hyddgen, i.e teaching staff and others, received redundancy letters which explained that the school needed to save in the region of £200,000 over the next two years through cuts to staffing.

“The letter requested that staff came forward if they wanted to be considered for voluntary severance or a reduction in their working hours.”

The news comes as £22m plans for a new school building in Machynlleth were backed by the Welsh Government with Powys County Council now drawing up a full business case for the development.

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