Education Minister Dame Jennifer Smith said today Government was willing to meet with school boards as they try and meet financial targets.Earlier this week The Royal Gazette revealed that CedarBridge Academy has been instructed to trim $1.8 million from its budget, with an unspecified number of staff redundancies. Berkeley Institute is also said to face cuts of $1.4 million.This afternoon Dame Jennifer released a statement saying: “The budgets for each school were published in February in the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure. As you will be aware, the Ministry has been working towards giving autonomy to schools. In this regard, Aided Schools (including Cedarbridge) already have a measure of autonomy as they make decisions concerning their schools in collaboration with their Boards of Governors.”“The Minister notes that there is one shining example where an aided school has not only made the required cuts, but also indicated that they may, in fact, find additional savings.“Ministry officials have also met with one Board to discuss their proposed plan of action. We remain ready and willing to meet with all Boards in this regard; even as we struggle to meet agreed financial targets within the Department.”