LLUIDASVALE, St Catherine – There will be a meeting at the Lluidasvale Heart Academy in this rural parish at 1:00 pm tomorrow, where officials from the vocational institute are expected to explain to community members why guidance counsellor Joseph Elvin’s contract has not been renewed.

Placard-bearing students and other community members protested at the gates of the academy last Wednesday, after they learnt of the unexpected change in Elvin’s terms of employment. They used debris to block a section of the roadway that runs through the community. The protestors told the Observer that Elvin was verbally notified of the change on April 8. They want to see him back on the job.

Bobette Wholly, one of Elvin’s former students, was among those who spoke highly of him. The counsellor, she said, routinely helped some of his students get to and from school and even ensured, at times, that they had enough to eat.

“If it was not for him I would not be working now, as he took very good care of his students,” said another protestor.

A native of Trinidad and a deacon of the Lluidasvale Baptist Church, Elvin said he applied for the guidance counsellor job in 1995 after he learned that the position would soon become vacant. Since then, his contract has been renewed every year, he added. Like community members, he said he had no idea why he was now out of the job he has held for a decade.

Karen Bale, the director of institution-based training at Heart’s Kingston offices, stressed that Elvin had not been fired – his contract had simply not been renewed, she said. But she was unable to say if there were any plans to use the counsellor’s services in the future.

However, community members, who were unimpressed with the nuances between being fired and not having one’s contract renewed, were still angry. They say they are determined to get answers during Tuesday’s closed-door meeting.