Students of St Ignatius Secondary School in Region Nine are expected to return to school on Monday, June 10, after an abrupt closure of the school due to sanitary issues.
Yvette Archer, the Head Teacher of the school, on June 4, posted on Facebook that in order to facilitate repairs and upgrading of the sanitary block, the school would be closed for three days. The school, which is located next to Lethem in Region 9, was subsequently closed on June 5 and will remain closed for the rest of the week. However, it is expected that the school will be re-opened as per normal on June, 10, 2019.
This was confirmed by the Chairman of the Board of the school, Nichola Johnson, who stated that she sought the advice of the relevant authorities before making the decision to close the school. She then stated that they are currently trying to rectify the situation and do not wish to comment further.
In a release from the Department of Public Infrastructure, it was stated that Regional Executive Officer (REO) of Region 9, Carl Parker, was unaware of the sanitary issues affecting the school. It was also stated that in a letter which circulated on social media, Archer wrote to the Deputy Education Officer, Ingrid Trotman, seeking permission to close the school, citing unsanitary conditions which were present for three weeks. The request was granted for classes to be cancelled for three days.
Parker stated that on the numerous occasions he visited the school recently, he was never informed about the situation and called for an open dialogue between the administration of the school and his office.
