A CASH-STRAPPED secondary school has shelved plans to ask staff to hand back part of their salary following criticism from a teaching union.

Dr Paul Doherty, headmaster at Trinity Catholic High School in Woodford Green, was set to hold a secret ballot of the school’s 200 staff on a proposal that staff forfeit 1.5 per cent of their salary to prevent redundancies.

However, the ballot was cancelled after Dr Doherty came under fire from a teaching union.

If two-thirds of staff had voted for the proposal, all would have been asked to contribute 1.5 per cent of their salary back to the school, but would have been free to opt out.

Dr Doherty said: “Basically, the school’'s budget is being cut and I thought we should all take a hit, we should all suffer.

“It was all well-received. My feeling is that around 80 per cent of staff would have voted yes.

“We’ve suspended the plan and I will think about it over the Easter holidays.”

Dr Doherty said he already gave back £3,000 of his own salary to the school, which funds a number of schemes such as giving pupils a card on their birthdays.

A newly-qualified teacher who took up their first post last September at an outer London state school like Trinity earns £25,117 – meaning 1.5 per cent of their salary equates to £376.75 before tax.

Alan Mair, head of religious education, said: “I think the feeling among the teaching staff was one of anger that the ballot had to be cancelled.

“I was extremely supportive of the proposals to make this small contribution, if it meant that redundancies of staff will not follow.”

Last week Woodbridge High School, in St Barnabas Road, said it would have to make some staff redundant in the coming months.

Derek Moore, national executive member of the NASUWT teaching union, wrote to Dr Doherty urging him to cancel the plans.

He said: “We’re concerned that holding a ballot about this would have put staff under extreme duress.

“Something like this could have been extremely divisive, which in a school is a very bad thing.

“I’m sure the head suggested this with the best intentions but we feel there are better ways to proceed.”