Staff from five academies are striking over a funding dispute with their academy trust. Teachers and support staff from the Burgess Hill Academy, Hastings Academy, St Leonards Academy, Robsack Wood Academy and the Baird Academy set up picket lines yesterday morning as part of what is believed to be the first academy trust strike of its kind. The academies are challenging the University of Brighton Academies Trust, which fund the schools, over its alleged withholding of money.
The group has said that between 2021-23, £2,829,000 has been withheld from the Burgess Hill Academy. In a letter by Burgess Hill Academy staff, they said: “We have made numerous attempts to resolve this issue through dialogue and negotiation with the trust. “As a result, we have made the difficult but necessary decision to take strike action to force the trust to resolve these issues.
” Five Burgess Hill town councillors, Diane Black , Peter Williams, Anne Eves, Brenda Williams and mayor Janice Henwood, attended the Burgess Hill Academy strike to show their support. Five Burgess Hill town councillors, including Mayor Janice Henwood, centre, attended the picket line (Image: National Education Union) Jo Hallett, the mum of a Year 9 pupil at Burgess Hill Academy, said: “I was shocked and appalled to hear how much money is being taken by the trust from our school. “I can’t imagine how stressful this must be for our teachers - not having the right equipment to do their jobs and not having decent t.