Parents ‘won’t return children’ to Luther Thorne even after protest yields repairs

After protests at the problem-plagued Luther Thorne Memorial Primary School led to swift fixes of the issues, parents expressed delight – then pushed back against returning their children to school in the last week of term.

In a virtual meeting with parents on Monday night, which started at 7 p.m. and lasted more than two and a half hours, several parents told Deputy Chief Education Officer Joy Adamson that they would not be sending their wards back to the Wildey Road, St Michael school.

Said one parent: “I think that we should have a vote [if to let the students return]. I am not for my daughter going back to school until next term because as everybody is saying, there are only three more days left for school; I don’t see the need for it. They did very well with online schooling . . . so I don’t see the need for the rush. I think we the parents should get the opportunity to have more say, [that is why we] should vote for the kids not to go back into school unless the work is done properly.”

Several parents chimed in that they would not be sending their children to school for the remainder of the school term.

Two hours before that meeting, representatives of the school’s parent-teacher association, including the president Nathaniel Boyce, toured the school with principal Linda Graham, senior teacher Deborah Stoute-Burke, Adamson and other ministry officials.

When a Barbados TODAY team visited the school, workmen were busy cleaning and conducting other tasks.

After the one-hour meeting, Boyce told reporters that he was pleased that the ministry moved quickly to remedy at least the short-term issues.

“We toured the school and looked at what was done inside some of the classrooms where the steel was blown. That was addressed – paved and tiled. The closets were given some attention; I peeped inside and there is no evidence of droppings. The workers right now are working to clean the classrooms where they are going to be doing soft power washing and wiping down surfaces that have dust, as the construction would have left debris. They gave me the assurance that they would clean so that by tomorrow [Tuesday] morning when we come, we will have a dust-free environment. They would be working through the night to ensure that the school would be clean.

“We are somewhat pleased with the work that we are seeing being done, especially within the short space of time. They [the ministry] have been working hard to meet our needs in terms of putting us in a better environment than before. There are still one or two concerns in terms of cracks in the walls and the fencing but we have been assured they would be addressed between now and vacation time.

“As it relates to the report that we would have asked for, the deputy chief is still awaiting that report and I believe that at some point of time, a structural engineer would come and look at the school as the school is old and parents and teachers are concerned about seeing the cracks,” added Boyce.

He said that while classes are scheduled to resume on Tuesday, it would be up to the teachers to return and check the classrooms to determine if their work environment was safe enough for them to teach.

The school was closed last Thursday and Friday so the remedial work could begin.

Regarding the work that was done, Boyce said certain areas of the plant were repainted, and mesh was placed on the decorative clay blocks of the classroom to block vermin and birds from entering the classrooms. Mesh was also placed on the railings on the second floor of the school blocks for safety purposes. More than 30 doors were replaced including closet doors, urinals were replaced and mould was cleared.

Last week, several parents brought in the media to highlight the issues affecting the school. Parents also complained that their children, just like the teachers, were falling ill with red eye, diarrhoea, rash and fever and had been vomiting.

For several days, teachers have been reporting for duty late and took part in a
sick-out last month.

sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb