Westmoreland parents protest stalled Hurricane Melissa repairs at Godfrey Stewart High

Parents, school leaders and other stakeholders at Godfrey Stewart High School in Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, took their frustration public late last week, demanding that long-delayed repair work on damaged buildings get moving again.

The dispute involves reconstruction and repair being handled by the National Education Trust (NET) after the school was affected by Hurricane Melissa. School officials say the project started earlier this year, but no work has been done since March, leaving them worried that important spaces may still be out of use when students return in September.

Principal Emily Lawrence-Ricketts said the school caters to about 1,285 students and has 60 teachers. She said that, even with the difficulties, the institution has continued to improve in academics and co-curricular areas.

"We are a little over 60 years old, and for the last couple years we have been really on a success trajectory of excellence," she said. "Our students do well in the performing arts, greater than they do in academics, but we are actually working on that in order for us to see both areas having a balance in terms of the success rate."

Lawrence-Ricketts said sections of the plant, including classrooms and support areas, still cannot be used because the construction is unfinished.

"What I'm able to tell is that we currently have a [work-resumption] date that they're working with, which is June 26th, but the work has been stalled since March 2026," she said. "They had started the work, demolished some areas, and everything is still there."

She warned that if the affected block is not completed before the new school year, between 280 and 300 fourth-form students could be left without their usual classroom space.

The principal also pointed to the school's cottage, which she said accommodates the nurse's station, two guidance counsellors, a breakfast area and a cosmetology classroom for 25 students.

"So, I don't know. I'm hoping that by the end of August we would be better able to see what the block will look like, but at this time I am not sure," she said.

Lawrence-Ricketts said the lack of space has created a hard situation for families and students, with some children having to attend on a phased schedule.

"Parents have been restive about that as well," Lawrence-Ricketts said. "I'm very, very hopeful and I'm just asking them to just give us some more time, please."

She said she still has confidence in the education authorities, but the school is waiting on NET to act.

"We're just waiting on NET to see what is going to come of this particular situation because, you know, parents are restive. We're not sure what's going to happen. It's just something that we have to fix now in order for us to be ready for August 15."

PTA president Petagaye Melbourne said parents have been pushing for months for the school to be repaired and are upset by what they see as a lack of urgency.

"We have been lobbying for the refurbishing of the school for months. The last time they did any refurbishing was in March," she said. "The principal, the vice-principals, they have sent numerous emails to the ministry, and nothing happened until they heard that we'll be out here today. Then everybody starts sending people to come here."

Melbourne said the protest was not about party politics, but about giving children a safe and suitable place to learn.

"We are not playing politics with education," she said. "If we don't get anything by July, we are coming out here again, and this time it's going to be different."

She said leaking classrooms have made the school day difficult whenever it rains.

"There are several classrooms that are leaking. As soon as rain starts falling, the children have to open umbrellas, and some classes have to be dismissed because there isn't enough umbrella room for those classes," Melbourne said.

With about 95 days left before the next school year, Melbourne questioned how the school would manage new grade-seven students while already using a rotation system.

"Where are we going to put them when we already have what we have here on a rotational schedule?" she asked. "They need to come fix this."

Another parent, Adrian Ellison, said the delay has gone on too long and described the state of the school as unacceptable.

"It is a bad condition in terms of Melissa, since it's been over seven months ... since the school has been in a deplorable condition," he said.

Despite the anger among parents, school administrators are still hoping work will restart on June 26 and that the main facilities will be ready before orientation activities begin on August 25.