THE trust that runs Whitehaven Academy will not leave, it has confirmed this week.

Angry academy staff set a deadline of this Tuesday for the Bright Tribe Trust to leave or staff would vote for strike action.

They called for the desperate measures as the school plunged into special measures.

But this week, a Bright Tribe spokeswoman said the trust “remains committed to the school”.

A notice of a ballot for industrial action has been served by the NUT and ATL unions. These will open tomorrow and run until January 6. It means academy staff in these unions could take industrial action in the new year.

Whitehaven Academy Parent Action Group gathered nearly 600 signatures from the community

this week, in a declaration of support for staff and pupils.

Two unions – the NUT and ATL – have listed numerous issues they say need to be addressed by Bright Tribe to avoid strike action, including:

- the building presents a health hazard

- a lack of adequate and functioning resources

- the management style of Bright Tribe Trust staff.

Issues include broken equipment, crumbling buildings, mouldy carpets, leaking roofs and a lack of heating. Bunsen burners have even been used to warm up unheated science classrooms, say the unions.

Chris Brooksbank, Cumbria’s NUT secretary, described the situation at the academy as “shocking’’, while Stuart Moles, ATL’s regional officer for Cumbria, said: “Bright Tribe has to act quickly to avoid this strike and to start talking to the school, its staff and the wider community about how these issues will be addressed.”

Bright Tribe has previously defended claims about the state of the school following the release of damning photographs. A letter to parents from chief operating officer Kathy Kirkham said: “It is disappointing that the images... are misrepresentative.”

She said most pictures were of areas of the school that had been closed due to decreased numbers of pupils to help save money or parts that are earmarked for already planned improvements. She added the trust had put around £400,000 of investments into the academy and a further £500,000 of building improvements are expected over the next year.