Principal of rural school warns of potential disaster from 'lollipop' road safety patrol cuts

Donna Winters, principal of the rural Hezlett Primary School in Co Londonderry, made the comment after it emerged the recruitment of lollipop men and women is being frozen by the Education Authority as part of an effort to save money, amid difficult budget circumstances at Stormont.

Last year, a hole in the public finances worth hundreds of millions was revealed by the then Finance Minister Conor Murphy.

The powersharing gridlock meant no budget could be agreed by Northern Ireland's political parties, and in November a budget was introduced by the Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris that meant significant cutbacks needed to be made by the Department of Education.

The Education Authority (EA) has been asked to find savings worth over £100 million by the end of the financial year, on March 31.

The BBC on Friday reported that the EA chief executive had identified savings of around £17.8 million - including a freeze on road crossing patrol staff recruitment.

Ms Winters, speaking alongside East Londonderry MLA Claire Sugden, said: "Until recently, we had 40 years of consistent crossing patrol staff that have been vital in making sure pupils can cross safely from one side of the A2 to the other

“We now haven’t had one since December. We employed one local person at a cost to the school, and when they haven’t been available, teachers have had to fill in."

Ms Sugden said: "The school will always put the safety of their pupils above anything else, but they should not be put in this position. They have written to the Education Authority and have been told that their particular situation is being looked into, but this needs to be resolved very quickly as it is an issue every single day."

Foyle MLA Mark H Durkan also expressed concern, saying: “At a time when efforts are being made to promote more active travel; from cycling or walking to school initiatives and establish safer routes to school, the freeze on crossing patrol staff is in complete contradiction to those aims. While I’m acutely aware of the budgetary constraints facing EA, we can’t put a price on children’s safety.”