SEVERAL schools in Kingston and St Andrew were faced with setbacks at the start of the new school year yesterday, but the hundreds of eager students, apparently happy to be back from the extended summer holiday, wore bright smiles as they made their way to classes.

At the Dunrobin Primary School, located on Dunrobin Avenue, some grade two classes had to be combined because the roof of one of the classrooms was severely damage by Hurricane Dean last month and was still being repaired yesterday.

However, principal Robert Gillings told the Observer that the repairs to the roof were expected to be completed before the end of the week. “Things are going fairly smooth, but not as smooth as we would want them to be,” Gillings said.

Gillings said the hurricane also damaged some furniture, which had to be repaired.

At the same time, Gillings said he had to turn away a number of parents who turned up with their children yesterday morning, but had failed to register them for school before the opening.

One man was overheard pleading with the principal to admit his son into school, but Gillings explained to him that the school had to adhere to the student-teacher ratio of 30:1 stipulated by the education ministry. There are 1,400 students at Dunrobin Primary.

At the Edith Dalton James High School in Duhaney Park, parents gathered in the courtyard as they waited for their children to be assigned to their new forms. Principal Ray Howell said the school spent a lot of time preparing for the new school year.

Edith Dalton, which was used as a shelter during the passage of Hurricane Dean on August 19, suffered minor damage to a section the roof, but Howell said this was fixed. Like Gillings, he said in preparation for the new school year, the school was thoroughly cleaned.

“We have been working on the whole school in terms of doing repairs to leaky roofs and we also did some cleaning,” he said. “My philosophy is that the school should be ready at least two weeks before the school year begins.”

He also noted that parents who had already paid school fees for their children inquired about the impending abolition of school fees, but he explained to them that “as soon as we get the word from the Government we would give them back the money”.

Edith Dalton was one of the schools slated to be taken off the shift system, however, Howell said the school would need at least 21 more classrooms to do so. He was not able to give a timetable within which the change would take place, but he said it would be done by next year.

Meantime, Dennis Kelly, principal for the Charlie Smith High, located in Arnett Gardens, said the only challenge the school faced yesterday was the late registration of some students. A number of parents were seen in the administrative office trying to register their children.

“I would say nothing unusual happened, traditionally some parents register very late. even up to this morning parents were trying to register their children,” Kelly told the Observer, adding that parents were invited from as early as July for registration. “Invariably, some parents were trying to get their children into other schools and when they can’t get them into these schools they come back to us.”

At the St Aloysius Primary School, principal Pauline Stephenson said they spent $800,000 painting the facilities, on repairs, and on the installation of partitions in some classrooms.

“Things started out smooth this morning,” she said. “We take care of ourselves. We do not wait on the ministry,” she added.

None of the schools the Observer visited in the Corporate Area received new furniture even though they said that they had made requests to the Ministry of Education.