Foyle College given extra time to repay £821k debt

Foyle College has been given until October to gather £821k that it owes the Department of Education, the Derry News can reveal today.

In April, the Derry News learned that Foyle College launched a fundraising appeal to repay the government department.

The local school originally indicated that the money had to be paid back in full by June 30 of this year.

The debt arose after the school relocated from Duncreggan Road and Northland Road to a new state-of-the-art campus on Limavady Road in the Waterside.

At that time the school invested heavily in facilities to ensure that its pupils received a ‘first-class education’.

Yesterday, a Department of Education (DE) spokesperson stated that engagement with the school is ongoing.

He added: “As per normal procedures with schools, the Department is continuing to work with Foyle College to secure repayment of funds related to their move to the new site at Limavady Road. 

“The school is undertaking a fund-raising campaign to raise the funds to meet this obligation by 30 October 2021. “

Foyle College is a co-educational Voluntary Grammar School which has been providing a high-quality education for young people in the city and surrounding area for over 400 years.

In mid-March, the college sent a letter to alumni and friends of the school asking for financial support. 

It was signed by principal, Mr Patrick Allen, Chair of the Board of Governors, Mr Gavin Killeen and Chair of the Former Pupils’ Association, Mr Donald Bigger.

The letter explained that the school’s debt had to be repaid by June or it risked losing its Voluntary Grammar status and by extension its ‘independence’.

BACKGROUND

In 2018 the historic Derry school moved around 850 pupils from the Cityside to the Waterside.

The DE purchased the site and building.

However, to allow pupils to attain the academic, athletic and artistic standards it has set, the local college invested in additional facilities including sports pitches and extra classrooms.

These enhanced facilities came at a cost of £2.4m.

Around £1m of that cost was covered by a previous fundraiser while the school awaited the final figures for the sale of its former campuses.

It has since emerged that DE sold the original lands for £3.4m.

According to Foyle College, the department retained £2.8m of that for grants it previously awarded to the old school sites.

That meant £0.6m was available to the school, leaving a deficit of £821k.

In correspondence with alumni and friends of the school, the College said DE’s figures are based on ‘clawing back’ money that has been spent on a school prior to its new build.

It read: “Because the school has received grants from DE over the past 50 years to fund capital items at Springtown and Duncreggan, legislation provides that DE claw back a proportion of these grants against any sale proceeds from land owned by the school.”

Foyle College was contacted for comment but none has been provided at the time of publication.