PARENTS of pupils at a well-known Cumbrian grammar school have expressed concern following the announcement that the school has been approved by the Department of Education to join a multi-academy trust.

Parents at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School have written to Vicky Beer, the regional director for the North West, to ask her to step in to stop the process.

The parents believe that their questions about the school’s £1.5million debt have not been answered. They consider that the consultation about the proposed move to join the West Lakes Multi-Academy Trust has not been adequate, and their concerns about the impact these 'hasty decisions' will have on the school have not been addressed.

The letter to Ms Beer declares that the process of ‘joining the Trust should be stopped until there is full transparency about the £1.5m liability’.

"Our view is very clear; there should never have been a consultation process about QEGS joining WLMAT, and therefore that the Governors should not have taken a decision to proceed to yourself as the Regional Director, seeking to determine the long-term future of the school, until full transparency about the £1.5million liability has been provided,” the letter read.

A concerned parent said: “It feels as if this was what the governors had in mind all along, before anyone knew about the £1.5million debt. The consultation felt like lip-service, and we are still waiting for answers they promised to give us.

"It is very worrying that we still don’t know how the school ended up with this huge financial liability and what is being done to ensure nothing like this happens again.

"How can we move forward to make an irreversible decision about the school we care about so much when we don’t have the full picture?

"With the lack of transparency over the MAT and what has happened in the past, it’s difficult for us to trust that the governors are doing the best for our children and their school,” they said.

In response, the school issued the following statement: “We are aware of a group of parents who have expressed their unhappiness about the Governors’ decision to move forward with proposals for the school to join West Lakes MAT.

“We are satisfied that due process has been undertaken at all stages.

"In relation to the school’s liabilities, we can confirm that discussions with the ESFA are ongoing.

“We strongly believe that joining West Lakes Multi-Academy Trust is in the best interests of the school.

“However, the traditional principles and values of Queen Elizabeth Grammar School - as a highly academic, selective school centred around the local community of Penrith and our wider catchment - will continue,” they said.

READ MORE: Queen Elizabeth Grammar School given go ahead to join West Lakes Multi-Academy Trust