'This decision is wrong': No plans to grant DEIS status to Leitrim secondary schools

The confirmation follows correspondence from Leitrim County Council after councillors unanimously backed a motion tabled by Cllr Cormac Flynn (SF) at the July meeting of the local authority calling for the issue to be addressed.

DEIS, which stands for Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools, provides additional supports to schools in areas deemed to be disadvantaged economically.

Speaking at the July meeting, Cllr Flynn, who is Principal of Mohill Community College, said none of Leitrim's seven secondary schools have DEIS status despite 16 of the county's 37 primary schools qualifying for the scheme.

"16 out of 37 primary schools have DEIS status. Yet, despite this clear evidence of educational disadvantage, not one of Leitrim's seven post-primary schools has DEIS status," he said.

Cllr Flynn told the meeting that schools were missing out on important supports.

"These include Home School Community Liaison Services, literacy and numeracy initiatives, free school meals and better funding for our schools," he stated.

He added: "Our young people and their families are, at best, let down, and at worst, failed, by a system which was designed to support them through their educational system."

The Leitrim Observer contacted the Department of Education following the council meeting.

In its response, the Department stated: "In light of these actions and current budget constraints there is currently no intention to conduct a review of DEIS banding or to expand the DEIS programme to include new schools.

"Any future additional allocation of resources under the DEIS programme will be considered over the lifetime of the DEIS Strategy to 2035 and in the context of available resources."

The Department said the programme is targeted at schools with the highest levels of concentrated disadvantage.

"The DEIS programme is targeted at schools with the highest levels of concentrated disadvantage.

“The research behind the identification model for DEIS indicates that the concentration of children at risk of educational disadvantage has an impact on the educational outcomes for all children in the school. This is known as the 'multiplier' effect and underpins the DEIS identification model.

"Schools that were included in the most recent expansion of the programme in 2022 were those with the highest levels of concentrated disadvantage as identified through the refined DEIS identification model."

The Department also said four Leitrim schools are included in a pilot project extending Home-School-Community-Liaison (HSCL) provision to schools outside the DEIS programme.

"A pilot project was recently introduced to extend Home-School-Community-Liaison (HSCL) provision to 130 schools that are in the DEIS Rural band and outside the DEIS programme.

"This pilot provides an important opportunity to trial the extension of this support to additional schools and to inform future policy development in relation to the scheme."

The Department added: "Schools included in the HSCL pilot project were identified using nationally available data relating to concentrations of educational disadvantage.

“Operational factors, including clustering feasibility and regional capacity requirements, were also considered to support implementation of the pilot at this stage.

"Four schools in Leitrim (Three primary and One post-primary) have been included in this pilot scheme.

"The Department has received correspondence from Leitrim County Council regarding this issue and has issued a response to the queries raised."

The Department also stated that all schools receive certain universal supports, including an educational psychological service and free schoolbooks.

Reacting to the Department's response, Cllr Flynn said the absence of DEIS status for any Leitrim secondary school was "a matter of right or wrong and this decision is wrong."

"I believe that the Department of Education has an overspend of around €500 million," he added.

In his view, "crude empirical evidence was used to leave Co. Leitrim schools out of the DEIS scheme."

"Co. Longford has 67% of schools included in DEIS and Leitrim is slightly more disadvantaged," he added.

Cllr Flynn also said work sanctioned for Leitrim schools had not yet been delivered.

"In my own school in Mohill, there are autism classes and 40 Ukrainian refugees in the school. One of the benefits of DEIS status is that everyone in the school benefits from the supports. Sometimes, those who need the supports the most do not take them up," he explained.

Responding to the Department's statement that four Leitrim schools are included in the Home-School-Community-Liaison pilot, he said: "I am not aware of any Leitrim school being part of the scheme."

While welcoming free schoolbooks for all students, he said "far more is to be gained for schools who have DEIS status."

Cllr Flynn said he intends to continue raising the issue and will contact the four Oireachtas members in the Sligo-Leitrim constituency.

Independent councillor James Gilmartin, who is currently on a career break from teaching, described DEIS supports as "really important."

"16 out of 37 of primary schools in the county have DEIS status, but these children don't get that help at secondary level. The gaps are widening," he said.

"I am aware that in St. Clare's Manorhamilton, they are crying out for help in relation to DEIS," he added.

Cllr Gilmartin acknowledged the universal supports available to all schools, including free schoolbooks, but said they were not sufficient.

"There is no point in having free schoolbooks if there isn't supports provided for numeracy and literacy," he stated.

He said DEIS schools benefit from additional supports including student wellbeing and trauma-informed supports, strengthening school leadership and staff capacity, and supporting transitions to further and higher education.