Frederick Smith Secondary gets extra security guard

The Frederick Smith Secondary School now has an additional security guard following the sexual assault of a female student there earlier this month.

President of the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) Rudy Lovell confirmed to Barbados TODAY that the new guard started work on Thursday.

“The school’s board of management would have secured that extra security guard. The guard will be at the school from 7 a.m. to 12 a.m. The teachers are happy that they are at least making some progress, but they are not totally satisfied that all of the issues have been resolved, so they are just looking at the small victories,” he said.

“Those teachers I spoke to have indicated that it is a start, and even though they would have wanted two, the extra one is a start. We are hopeful that the Ministry will keep its promise to update us on the issues at the school in the two weeks that was promised, which is Friday coming.”

Twenty-nine-year-old Jamel Lorenzo Hunte has been charged with raping a 12-year-old female student and trespassing on school grounds on June 15.

A day after the incident, following a four-hour long meeting at the school, Minister of Education Kay McConney said security at the school would be beefed up.

That began on Monday, June 20, with the school gates being locked at 9:30 a.m. and parents who turned up to conduct business being placed on a bench on the front lawn of the compound before being escorted to the principal’s office.

Principal Stephen Jackman told Barbados TODAY the objective was to keep parents who must show up at the school for meetings, set via an appointment system, close to security officers so that they cannot wander into the school.

(AH)