Today was the first for security changes at the Frederick Smith Secondary School following the alleged sexual assault of a female student last Thursday by a man who reportedly walked off the streets.
The school gates were locked at 9:30 a.m. and parents who turned up at the Trents, St James-based school to conduct business had to be seated on a picnic bench on the front lawns of the premises before being escorted to the principal’s office.
“We are still teething out but we had little or no problems today. We closed the gates at 9:30 a.m. and anyone arriving after that had to be admitted by the security officers, and the parents are kept sitting close to the security officers so that they can’t wander into the school and we are only seeing parents by appointment. We didn’t have any issues,” principal Stephen Jackman told Barbados TODAY.
“Students received what help we could offer in terms of counselling today. So we will see how the situation goes”.
Several parents said while they were disappointed in the circumstances that led to the heightened security at the school, they understood and endorsed the new measures being taken.
They said they were interested in the safety of their children and the staff of the institution.
“We still really don’t know exactly what happened but I am happy that they were trying to improve the security measures to protect our children and the teachers,” one parent said.
Last Friday, following a four-hour meeting at the secondary school, Minister of Education Kay McConney told the media that as police probe the incident, which occurred during school hours, security would be increased at the institution.
She had also said that police had a man in custody in connection with the incident.
Barbados TODAY’s efforts to contact Police Public Relations Officer Inspector Rodney Inniss for an update on investigations into the incident were unsuccessful.
(AH)
