The "Forres Gazette" was contacted by an individual last month, who claimed that a furious row had broken out over the payment of travel costs for pupils at Forres Academy, and that Moray Council were being slow to act to resolve the situation.

The person, who did not wish to give their name for fear of creating "more bad feeling"over the issue at the school, said there was a "big row" and everyone at the academy wanted it resolved.

The issue was confirmed after the "Forres Gazette" spoke to other people connected with the school, who were frightened to make on the record comments in case they got into trouble, but said the problem was well known among teaching staff.

The individual hinted that the problem stemmed from administration procedures, but they were hopeful of a resolution to the problem with the arrival of their new head teacher in a "new broom sweeps clean" type of initative.

The scale of the problem was further confirmed via an online blog on the Times Ed website - [http://www.tes.co.uka] which has a thread running about the issue.

Teachers from all over the country have been complaining about being expected to pay for trips, expenses and other things, using their own money and many were experiencing difficulty in getting their cash back.

A Moray Council spokesman admitted there had been a problem at Forres Academy, but it was now sorted out.

"There was an issue relating to the use of credit cards," he said, "but it was resolved satisfactorily some time ago."

He explained that the school had now been issued with a purchase card which was used specifically in connection with school trips.

The "Forres Gazette" believes that the problem had allegedly arisen after teachers booking flights and accommodation for school trips or paying for other expenses were forced to put items on their own personal credit cards. In one case it was alleged this was as much as £2000.

A source close to the "Gazette" said it had become a real issue as teachers were having to engage in lengthy claim procedures in order to get the money back, simply because the school office refused to issue cheques in time to cover the costs.

"There is now an absolute mutiny about it with teachers saying no," he added. "This does not happen in other schools in Moray who have more supportive admin staff. It's a ridiculous situation."

The un-named person said that there was no other way around it, other than to use of a credit card, especially when making bookings for cheap flights for school trips using online sites such as Easyjet or Ryanair, which must be done with a credit card.

One individual on the Times-Ed on-line blog, who identified himself as being from Moray in a later comment, echoed the sentiments.

"In my school if you are organising a trip you are expected to put it on your personal credit card and then get a cheque to cover it from the school office, which may take some time to be cleared," he said. "Sometimes the office is slow in issuing the cheque.

"The problem is when you are sitting at a PC trying to book twenty Easyjet flights. It has to be done with a credit card," he added.

Other individuals said this was "out of order" and when it had happened in their school, the auditors had complained, and this was not likely to be sanctioned by the Scottish Teachers Union and was probably illegal.

Teachers were also apparently losing out because of the fluctuation in exchange rates, because if they paid for something abroad, they had to wait weeks to be reimbursed.

Another said it was a "ludicrous situation" which wouldn't happen if they worked in a private company, where they were hardly likely to be told to go out and buy a forklift truck using their own credit card. Others blamed the education authority for taking so long to put payments through to schools.

Another who said he also came from the Moray Council education authority area said that it was a shocking and stressful situation.

"I come from a large secondary school in the area and we have the office staff from hell," he said. "It's commonplace to have to use personal credit cards to book flights etc. Otherwise, there is no way of booking. No one can sort out the office staff, they are extremely obnoxious. Moray Council should sort out their procedures and force office staff to comply."

Despite being contacted by e-mail by the "Forres Gazette" neither the chairman of the educational services committee at Moray Council, Jeff Hamilton nor the teachers union - EIS responded to the claims.

t.mclaren@forres-gazette.co.uk

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