The two high schools in eastern Portland were not poised to be opened on the traditional first Monday in September, as repair works to correct damage due to the passage of Hurricane Beryl were still ongoing close to the beginning of the new school year.
The issue of schools not being opened on ‘September morning’ was raised on the Colin Bell Show on Stylz FM last week. It was stated that some of the schools, including Titchfield and Happy Grove high schools, are facing challenges with their reopening plans.
Bell, who is the People’s National Party (PNP) caretaker for Eastern Portland, in fact issued a release calling for the authorities to intervene. According to him, following the passage of Hurricane Beryl, electricity was restored to both schools within two weeks, yet repairs works there have lagged significantly.
“Six weeks later and the repairs to the schools are far from completed,” said Bell.
He added that, “Given the time (that was) available to complete the repairs, the work should have been completed, or be close to completion….”
The administration of Titchfield High School is expecting to have the institution fully opened on Monday, September 9. Work is being done or is to begin on 20 classrooms and the administration block which houses the principal’s office, the nurse’s station and off general office.
However, the Principal, Richard Thompson, is not confident that the contractors will finish on time, as some of the work has not yet started, and those that are ongoing have slowed down due to unavailability of material.
He told Loop News that orientation is under way at the school, and they will be rotating shifts to accommodate the approximately 1,500 students and more than 100 staff members.
Richards stated that until the work is complete, they will operate on a blended system in which some students will attend classes online, while others have face-to-face engagements.
He said parents will be informed of new timetables and schedules for classes through the school communication system.
Richard noted that the bicentennial school has had trouble maintaining some of the buildings on the property that have worsen since the passage of Hurricane Beryl.
The principal said his office from which he still works, is unsafe. He pointed out that an old building is to be repaired to move his office there.
He revealed that in 1996, a number of classes were built from plyboard when the previous principal was taking the school off the shift system and needed the space.
“I have spent millions of dollars each year replacing ply and doing repair work. The classrooms are hot and dark. For a premier school that has always maintained performance standards, to put children in those classes I consider a retrograde step,” he said.
He said the situation is an indictment on the parish and the education system in general.
“I’m not talking politics because this has been happening under successive administrations. The condition of the school is aggravating illnesses of some teachers,” he said.
Thompson said Hurricane Beryl has exposed deeper issues at the school, which he has been lobbying through the proper channels to have fixed, without much being done.
“We are trying to do things the right way, but our parents do not block roads, so we don’t get attention,” he said.
Principal of Happy Grove High, Monique Grant Facey, said she is depressed at the treatment that she said is being meted out to the school.
“My blood pressure is going up and I have communicated to the highest level of the ministry (of Education) that they are making me depressed,” she said.
She stated that before Beryl struck, the school was had a list that was scheduled for critical works to be done. She said several of the classrooms were not in use due to disrepair. The school’s auditorium, which now houses the vice principal’s office, labs, printing room and tuck shop, was damaged during Beryl.
She said the entire grade eight and 10 blocks, the IT lab, the entire science department, including its staffroom, cannot be used, and several buildings will be unusable during rainfall, due to the roofing membrane being removed by a contractor.
She said the contractor that is supposed to work on Happy Grove High is also working on Titchfield High School, and workmen only visited Happy Grove to remove the damaged roofing and other roofing that were to be repaired.
“There is no work going on at the school,” she said approaching the beginning of the new school year.
“They came and strip down the damaged roofing. I am standing in the schoolyard and no work is going on,” Grant Facey told Loop News.
She added that with no work going on, it would be difficult to say when normalcy would return at the institution.
“It’s a living hell. I have to tell parents that I could not open. It would have been better if they had not come and touched. I would have known what buildings I could not use and locked it off and juggle with what I have,” she said.
She also said she has been operating with facilities that are unable to handle the school population of 1,126 students and 80 teachers, including the principal and vice principal.
The principal estimated that with the passage of Beryl and the contractor removing components of the roof, the school’s capacity has cut down to a quarter.
Grant Facey said lack of maintenance over the years was exacerbated by the passing of Beryl.
She claimed that neglect from the Education Ministry has caused her to assign motives to why other schools in the parish are getting support, but Happy Grove is not.
“It is terrible here. It is making me wonder about why we are being treated like this. Work is happening at other places that were not on the list for emergency work,” she stated.
Grant Facey said there is no equity in how resources are distributed to schools.
“We are being shafted and slighted. What are they saying to the children and to me, is that we are of no value,” she said.
Happy Grove is the ninth oldest school in Jamaica, which was established 125 years ago. The school is still at its original location, although the buildings have been upgraded over the decades.
The school serves students in Portland and St Thomas.
