School boards park millions in the bank
School boards that have a lot of money left over year after year. They do not exist, education minister Arie Slob previously reported to the Lower House. The Education Magazine delved into the figures and found them. What seems? Most of these institutions already had a generous buffer five years ago.
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'Growing together' is the motto of Christian primary school De Borg. At first glance an ordinary school with 450 students in Haren, province of Groningen. Education is fine; in April De Borg got it stamp 'good' and a big compliment for the inspection.
What also grows is the bank account. Over the past five years, the one-person has left over two million euros, more than sixteen percent of the income. The reserves, which were already quite substantial at the time, have grown spectacularly. Just like the cash, because there is now no less than 2,6 million euros in education money parked in the bank.
I agree with everyone who says we have too much money in the bank. I'm really trying my best to spend it.
"I agree with everyone who says that we have too much money in the bank," says director Kees Bouma. Little overhead, low absenteeism, asylum seekers' children who brought three years higher funding with them, extra income from a merger arrangement: these are just a few of the statements the director mentions: "I really do my best to spend it. But we don't spend it unnecessarily."
Of every euro that comes in, 64 cents goes to staff, compared to an average of 77 cents for all one-person companies. Nevertheless, Bouma says that additional investments are being made in task lighting. "For example, all teachers occasionally have a day without a group to work on their administration." And in a year and a half the school will be renovated and then a pot will be needed for the furnishing, he estimates about five tons. "We don't say: we have to spend what we receive. We look at what is needed. My board sometimes asks about the reserves, but they see that we don't deny the children anything here."
Surplus
'The financial position of school boards in primary education has increased in recent years', reported education minister Arie Slob to the House of Representatives at the end of last year. But there is no unnecessary hoarding, according to the minister. 'Individual school boards don't have money left over year after year.' According to him, institutions do save in a targeted way to absorb setbacks or to invest.
What do the numbers say? More than three hundred educational institutions in all sectors (one fifth of the total) have had money left over continuously over the past five years – varying from a negligible plus to a large surplus. In primary education, there are 213 school boards. Of these, 147 recorded an average plus of three percent or more. That amounts to fifteen percent of all PO institutions. Their joint surplus 2013-2017: 179 million euros.
And one step further: since 41, 2013 school boards have had at least three percent left every year in a row, including 33 in primary education. These 33 primary school boards alone have saved about 53 million euros over the past five years, almost nine percent of their income. Relatively often they are smaller organizations with one or two schools. They are generally more vulnerable than a large group of schools.
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Take the Zonnebloemschool, a school for (secondary) special education with 220 students in Emmeloord. Almost three million euros remained over the last five years, the bank balance grew by 2,5 million. Shareholders' equity, still one million euros in 2008, rose to just under six million euros last year.
“The reserves have become higher than we would have liked,” director Aart Reussing admits frankly. When appropriate education was introduced more than four years ago, the number of pupils was expected to decline.
The reserves have become higher than we wanted
Moreover, the umbrella partnership was faced with a substantial cutback imposed by The Hague. The Zonnebloem School had a very conservative budget drawn up and braced itself. But it was all not too bad. After an initial decline, the number of students is on the rise again.
“The reality turned out differently than we expected,” Reussing concludes. “It is certainly not an end in itself to put money in the bank. We try to look for good destinations for the money, but don't want to throw it out. ” No cuts have been made on personnel, says Reussing. "We have now posted five vacancies and we would like more, but we simply cannot find the staff due to the tight labor market." The director is proud of the designation 'excellent school'. The Education Inspectorate is satisfied: the SO and VSO are both considered 'good' by the Inspectorate assessed.
Written off
Relatively speaking, the most money was left with the Islamic primary school El Habib in Maastricht. The one-person unit with 380 students, which falls under the competent authority of the Smart foundation, has had almost three million euros left over the past five years, more than one-fifth of the income. Shareholders' equity doubled to nearly five million euros. The school has a relatively large number of pupils with extra 'funding weight'.
"We certainly do not have the objective of hoarding money," says daily director Cansen Candas. The foundation has set aside money for the furnishing of the new building. "El Habib has been housed for years in containers or school buildings in very poor condition. The old furniture has already been largely written off, but we have not replaced it pending the completion of our new school building."
The old furniture has already been largely written off, but we have not replaced it in anticipation of the completion of our new school building.
In addition, the foundation keeps a little under two million euros in reserve for setbacks. Isn't that a bit much? "Based on a risk analysis, we maintain a lower limit of 1,8 million. Due to the change in the weighting scheme, we will soon be handing in four tonnes per year."
64 percent of all income goes to personnel expenditure, less than average for all single-person companies. "We absolutely do not save on education," said Candas. The fact that El Habib spends relatively less on personnel is "probably because we have younger teachers and structurally low absenteeism. We don't have fewer teachers than other schools. We give the students what they need."
De educational quality is in order and the school scored high two years ago in a comparative study by RTL Nieuws, according to the director.
Ring
The vast majority of school boards that have money left over for years already had a nice reserve. Only a handful were forced to put on their belts because they were in bad shape at the time. The lump sum financing, where each school board is given a bag of money to spend as they see fit, does not take into account accumulated reserves. A number of financially more than healthy school boards are getting richer, according to an analysis of the annual figures.
There was absolutely nothing to criticize about the school, the quality of education was to die for. The driver asked us: tell me where I can put the money in for a positive effect and I will do it immediately.
About six years ago, the Education Inspectorate examined wealthy institutions. What struck the then department head Marc Spierings was that prosperous boards often had the education in order. “One of the richest boards, a one-man, still stands by me”, Spierings said last spring during a round-table discussion about the lump sum in the House of Representatives. “There was absolutely nothing to criticize about the school, the quality of education was worth it. The driver asked us: tell me where I can put the money in for a positive effect and then I will do it immediately. We couldn't think of anything either. ”
Arjan Linthorst, chemistry teacher, has studied the finances of educational institutions and regularly denounces excessive reserves. Since financial dramas such as with Amarantis, the inspectorate has focused its financial sights more on the underside, he notes. “I get it: the last thing you want is for a school to go bankrupt. That immediately made the newspaper. But the inspection should follow two tracks: no one should go bankrupt and no one should leave a disproportionate amount of money in the savings account. That, too, is a waste of education money.”
As a society, we want education money to be used optimally. We don't pull out all the stops when so much remains on the shelf.
Do institutions comply with the rules? And is continuity guaranteed? The Inspectorate focuses on these questions when auditing financial management. Fine, that is the verdict of De Borg and the Zonnebloemschool. It investigation report even states that De Borg 'handles his money wisely'. Remarkable, because a few lines later the Inspectorate acknowledges that it does not assess whether the education money is used efficiently.
Linthorst advocates the reintroduction of upper limits for reserves: institutions that leave too much money in the bank over a longer period of time, for example five years. This makes the phenomenon visible and enables staff, parents and other stakeholders to ask critical questions. Yes, even if the educational quality is satisfactory. “As a society we want education money to be used optimally. We don't pull out all the stops when so much is left on the shelf. ”
Internal
The umbrella organization PO council does not address boards about their reserves. “What we do do is ask for the reason,” says spokesperson Ad Veen of umbrella organization PO Council. In recent weeks, the PO council has called a number of boards with striking buffers to hear the story behind the figures. According to Veen, it soon became clear that boards all have good reasons for their saving behavior, such as planned investments in maintenance or educational materials.
When will the results of the tour be published? “That will remain internal,” the spokesperson responds. “We may be spreading a general message. But we are certainly not going to mention names of institutions. ”
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