The Tribune

By MORGAN ADDERLEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

madderley@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Union of Teachers President Belinda Wilson said yesterday that 95 percent of teachers at CW Sawyer Primary School called in sick yesterday, noting they are still awaiting a full report submitted by engineers to the Ministry of Education on the safety of the school.

In an interview with The Tribune yesterday, one affected teacher said educators are concerned about the structure of the building.

The school was closed last Thursday and Friday allegedly due to the presence of mould. However, Education Director Marcellus Taylor said on Monday that it was a “build-up of dirt” instead that created the “unsanitary situation” that forced the school’s closure.

The teacher, who wished to remain anonymous, also refuted claims that classes resumed yesterday — saying teachers stayed outside due to the heavy fumes still present in the building from a cleaning exercise.

She added that outstanding issues present at the school include the upper floor shaking, a reported sinkhole, cement falling from the ceiling, and electrical and plumbing issues.

Education Minister Jeff Lloyd addressed the structural issues at the school when questioned by reporters yesterday.

“As you know Sybil Strachan, with regard to the scabies, that has been addressed and rectified and I believe that students and teachers are back, as well as CW Sawyer,” he told reporters.

“We are looking at the structural circumstance of the entire school system, including CW Sawyer. Our teams along with the Ministry of Works’ teams have been working to assess exactly what the state of the physical structure is as an update to the assessment that was done last year and during the summertime.

“So there is a constant revision of that update. But we have just done so in the last week and a half. And the idea is to see where there might be issues that will arise from a critical standpoint that need to be immediately addressed.

“We have been mandated by the Ministry of Finance to provide a report on the costing of what may be required between now and the end of the fiscal year and that is in process at this time and we should have a response in terms of any leads determined by the end of...this Tuesday.”

Yesterday morning, Mrs Wilson told The Tribune the majority of teachers called in sick saying they are “awaiting the full report submitted by engineers to the Ministry of Education.”

She added: “Teachers and students should work in a safe environment.”

When asked how many teachers there are total, Mrs Wilson said 45, adding the union is awaiting a report from either the Ministries of Education or Works.

However, when contacted yesterday, Mr Taylor said he was told that only 19 teachers called in sick.

Mr Taylor told The Tribune. “I think that would represent about half of the teaching staff.”

Meanwhile, the anonymous teacher told The Tribune teachers protested last Wednesday over the issues.

“We officially started the sit-out Wednesday, we had some issues of the structure of the building — we had the upper floors shaking and then we had an incident where parts of the cement from the building (roof) started to fall, break into the classrooms,” she said.

“We had had electrical issues, plumbing issues,” she continued. “We had an incident where the cement from the belt of the roof fell into the classroom and fell through the ceiling …This would have been last term.”

The teacher added when it rains, water leaks in the classrooms, wetting the walls. She said that issue has been ongoing and whenever it is raised, someone from the Ministry of Works plasters the area — a temporary solution.

She also supported initial claims that there is indeed a sinkhole at the school.

“Yes there is, on the upper floor,” she said. “I think in the grade 4 area. And that would be directly over preschool.”

The teacher also responded to reports that it was dirt, not mould which affected the school. She said this was due to the school’s yard not having any grass — resulting in the dirt blowing inside the classrooms. She added that this has caused teachers and students to get sick.

“The cleaning was fine but that was never our concern,” she said of the dirt remediation. “We didn’t request for the school to be cleaned. I think they were trying to pull wool over our eyes, to say that they’re trying to help the situation.

“But we actually asked if they could put some grass down to prevent all the dirt and the build-up of the dirt coming into the classroom. That (would) be a solution to the problem.”

She added that teachers will be returning to school today but noted they will be meeting with union representatives this morning.