The Tribune

By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

PARENTS complained they were left scrambling to collect their children from Sadie Curtis Primary School after learning of an early dismissal through other parents and group chats as suspected impetigo cases forced the closure of two more public schools.

Sadie Curtis and EP Roberts Primary School dismissed students early on Wednesday and will remain closed until Tuesday, following the National Heroes Day holiday, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology confirmed.

The closures came amid complaints from teachers that school administrators had failed to keep them informed about suspected infections, prompting union intervention and staff signing out at noon.

At Sadie Curtis, parents arriving to collect their children said they had received no direct notification from the school.

One mother said she discovered the school was closing only after she went to bring lunch for her son, and another parent told her about a reported outbreak.

She said she had received no memo and, when she went to the school office, saw teachers lining up to sign out.

"If I didn't come to bring my little boy lunch, I would have never known what was going on, and he would have been here all day," she said. "That ain't fair."

Another parent, who has children aged five and eight at the school, said she learned of the dismissal by phone from another parent. A third parent said she went to collect her nine-year-old daughter after seeing a message in a group chat.

As the afternoon approached, parents continued arriving at the school, parking inside and outside the compound as students in burgundy uniforms gathered behind the courtyard gate.

Bahamas Union of Teachers area vice-president Vernon Rogers said teachers had raised concerns about suspected impetigo, scabies and other skin rashes at Sadie Curtis but were frustrated by what they considered a lack of communication from administrators.

He said teachers assembled in the staff room at 8.45am to seek a briefing from the principal, but alleged that the principal refused to address them.

Teachers wanted information from the principal and school nurse and sought involvement in the school's health and safety committee, he said.

"The teachers are finding out after the fact, rather than being proactive, and so that has created a problem in the school today," Mr Rogers said.

He said teachers subsequently contacted union representatives and signed out at noon, invoking Article 15.9 of their industrial agreement, which concerns health and safety.

Bahamas Public Services Union president Alexander Burrows Jr said his union had received reports of three suspected cases at Sadie Curtis, although the nature of the illness had not been confirmed to him.

The union represents about 15 custodial and clerical workers at the school, whom he said it encouraged to leave.

Mr Burrows said administrators advised that a company would conduct a deep cleaning of the campus, but he said he was disappointed that attempts to speak with the principal and district superintendent had been unsuccessful.

He argued that administrators and employees, as trade union members, should be able to cooperate in addressing workplace concerns.

At EP Roberts Primary School, Bahamas Educators, Counsellors and Allied Workers Union president Keysha LaRoda said she had reported concerns to the ministry the previous day.

She said cleaning had already taken place, but had not covered the entire campus. Following further representations, the ministry agreed to have the whole school deep cleaned and to dismiss students at Sadie Curtis so that cleaning could also take place there.

Ms LaRoda took a different position on the decision to invoke Article 15.9, saying unions should follow the reporting and escalation procedures in their industrial agreements.

She said her members signed out at noon for lunch and that she would have advised against invoking the health and safety provision because the ministry had already arranged for the schools to close.

"They have already done the resolve so that schools could be dismissed, you give time for the parents to come pick up their children," she said.

Union officials also gave differing accounts of the number of suspected cases at Sadie Curtis. While Mr Burrows referred to three, Ms LaRoda referred to four. The ministry's notice provided no official figure.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Science and Technology Chester Cooper said the government would seek to contain the spread of the infection while limiting disruption to classes.

He said he understood that impetigo was highly contagious but not life-threatening, and deferred to the Ministry of Health and public health officials for further information about the disease.

“The Minister of Health advises that it happens this time of year generally,” Mr Cooper said.

“It's of great annoyance and could be painful, but it's not life-threatening, so we want to make sure that we’re not losing instructional time for the majority of our students by trying to really curtail the spread in schools.”

The latest closures followed similar concerns at Gambier Primary School, where Bahamas Union of Teachers president Belinda Wilson urged teachers to leave their classrooms on Tuesday over new suspected impetigo cases.

The ministry had cleared Gambier to reopen on Monday after earlier cleaning and sanitation, but Ms Wilson raised concerns about the decision following reports of additional suspected infections.

Gambier Primary and Samuel Guy Pinder Comprehensive School in Spanish Wells had previously closed amid impetigo concerns.