Mum 'disappointed' as council plans to cut boarding funding at special education school
Lisa De-Bargeton told ITV News West Country that overnight stays at Pencalenick School are vital to her son's development
A mother from Cornwall who sends her teenage son to a special education school has said she is disappointed by the council's plan to withdraw funding for overnight boarding.
Earlier this month, Cornwall Council announced it is planning to withdraw funding for residential stays at Pencalenick School, in Truro.
The council says it is planning to use the money to create more day places at special education schools.
Lisa De-Bargeton said her son Louis has autism, and that his overnight stays at Pencalenick School are vital to his development.
Ms De-Bargeton said: "It gives me an opportunity to spend time with Louis' younger brother, and it helps obviously with his social skills and life skills."
Louis said: "Staying over at school is probably my favourite thing about school. We get to go out to stuff like the beach, and we also did Ten Tors."
Ms De-Bargeton added that Louis enjoys boarding at the school once a week as he has to travel more than three hours every day to get there.
"Louis gets picked up at 7:30am and doesn't get home until 4:30pm, because they pick up other students en route, so for him not to have to go in the taxi every single day makes a really big difference because it's such a long day," she said.
Pencalenick School is the only special education school in Cornwall that offers boarding.
But Cornwall Council is proposing to withdraw its £563,000 budget for overnight stays in order to create additional day places in special education schools.
The council says there are currently more than 4000 children in Cornwall with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP), meaning the need for day places at special education schools is increasing.
A Cornwall Council spokesperson said: "We have to ensure funding reflects the special education required to meet current and forecast need, and continuing to fund overnight provision therefore no longer presents value for money."
Cornwall Council has launched a consultation on the proposals to reallocate SEND funding.
The Special Partnership Trust, which runs Pencalenick School, said they will be directly supporting pupils, parents and staff throughout the consultation process.
A spokesperson for the trust said: "Throughout this consultation, we will continue to deliver a high-quality, SEN educational residential offer until further notice."
They added that SEN day programmes at Pencalenick School will remain unaffected.
The consultation is due to run until 10 June.