WITH the new academic year set to start Monday, and facing much-needed repair to school plants, inadequate budgets, teacher vacancies, and the spectre of campuses being used as polling stations in the September 3 General Election, Meadowbrook High School Principal Kevin Facey likened the preparation process to driving on empty.

“You feel like you’re driving and you’re coming into town, and the nearest gas station is 20 miles and the light has come on for your gas tank; and you’re thinking, ‘I just need to get there,’ ” Facey told the Jamaica Observer.

But Facey and a number of other Corporate Area principals canvassed by the Sunday Observer were adamant that come September 1, the gates to schools will open, and students will be welcomed, ready or not.

Facey explained that the run-up to each new school year has always been challenging, especially when school administrators are faced with an overwhelming list of necessities requiring immediate attention despite limited budgets.

He highlighted efforts made by the Ministry of Education to allocate funds necessary to keep Meadowbrook’s operations afloat, but the budget was stretched thin.

“They give us grants. We sent in reports and made requests for books, equipment, and furniture, and we have gotten some, in some cases. So the ministry does try its best. But here’s where the crunch hits; when your grant is a set figure for the last five years, and your costs are not set figures, that’s a problem,” Facey said.

He also expressed concern that the school needed to be ready to host a polling station for the general election, forcing him to rearrange their calendar of activities.

“Our school is a polling station. So it’s not only the day of the election, as most schools will do that, but the day before and the day after. There’s also having to make sure that there are people from my ancillary staff to give support to the election day workers, he explained.

“Like many schools, we do orientation by grade, so the grade seven will do the orientation on Monday, which is normal. But we normally open on the Wednesday. So because of the date of the election we are closed on the Wednesday, Tuesday, and Thursday,” he said, adding that the school will therefore be officially opened on September 8. However, he expects students to show up tomorrow morning.

“The gates are going to open and they [students] are going to come. Are we going to cover everything that we want to cover? No, but the big stuff are going to be done and some stuff you just have to do as best you can,” he said.

The picture was a bit brighter at Edith Dalton James High School where the clatter of construction and repair work echoed throughout the empty hallways while workmen breathed life and colour onto stripped walls.

Principal Orlando Worges was upbeat, pointing to freshly painted classrooms, fixed air-conditioning units, and even preparation for a brand new addition to the curriculum — a barbering course.

“As always, school preparation takes a lot of work. But we are doing everything we can to make sure that our students come to an environment that is ready to receive them. So we are working hard. If you look on the campus, you’ll see a lot of painting being done, a lot of repairs,” Worges said, adding that leaking roofs were repaired and broken tiles have been replaced.

Edith Dalton High will also be impacted by the election as it will be used as a polling station. However, Worges is confident that his team will seamlessly adapt, using online platforms to keep learning activities moving.

“One of the great things about how we have adapted over the years because of COVID — that came with its negatives and its positives — we have been able to use mixed modalities to facilitate what we planned to do face to face. So we have been able to modify our plans to facilitate some of it online. The only day that we will actually lose is the election day,” said a confident Worges.

At Donald Quarrie High School, Principal Talbert Weir shared that he had much to celebrate as he welcomed the new school year, noting that the Ministry of Education has provided the school with newly built classrooms and further renovations.

He said that due to these upgrades the school, located on Paul Bogle Highway just outside Harbour View, will no longer be operating a shift, which he deems a major milestone.

Some preparations, however, were still underway last week.

“Apart from the few infrastructural things, everything else is okay. We started the construction of a Sports Department, that is almost completed; we did renovation for the top shop area, that is completed; it’s just the grille that needs to go there for the purpose of safety,” Weir told the Sunday Observer.

“We also did some renovations on some of the classrooms, but I think those are really the things that we did in terms of infrastructure. Because we are by the sea here, we have to be doing a lot of maintenance every year,” said Weir.

He also acknowledged that due to the school being utilised as a polling station on Wednesday it would remain closed until the following week to allow for a return to normality before it hosts students once more.

In the meantime, for Kingston College being ready is a matter of necessity. With two campuses to manage and a wave of teacher migration complicating the recruitment process, Principal Dave Myrie admits that the summer has been a race against time.

Still, his resolve is clear: “Whether or not we want to be ready, we have to be ready for September. We’re almost there, because a lot of work was done during the summer,” Myrie said.

He explained that the process of maintaining the school was done in two phases, both of which still requires some work.

“In terms of preparation, it’s two fold. There’s a physical piece that has to be done to get the school on pace. There’s some painting that we still have to get done, which is currently being done. We’ll be ready. As far as the physical plan is concerned, our furniture and stuff are already in place.

“Then you have the other piece, which is an administrative piece. Our timetables and hiring teachers. Even as we speak, today, we’re going to have some interviews, trying to actually find the last few staff that we need to have on board. But, put it this way, one way or the other, we’ll be starting when we need to start,” Myrie assured.

At the same time, he said insufficient funds was a main issue that has affected the preparation process.

“You never have all the money you want to do anything, whether on a personal level or otherwise. I’d love to have more money because there are various other things I’d want to get done. But unfortunately, it’s not going to happen right now,” he said.

Myrie shared that his main focus now was to get the school ready for Monday, September 1. Further upgrades would be considered at a more opportune time.

“But at the end of the day, we’re still pushing through to get done what we need to get done. We might not be able to do all the bells and whistles in the way we want to do it, but we’re making sure that we do what is adequate for the start of the term,” he said.

At Camperdown High School, Vice-Principal Allison Bailey disclosed that the preparation process began the moment school closed for summer. She explained that painting and the procurement of chairs, and other upgrades have made the school “80 to 90 per cent ready” for reopening.

All, however, is not smooth.

“There are challenges, of course, but we try to do a workaround of those things. We have inspection coming up, also at the start of the year, so we’re getting ready for that this week and we have grade seven [students] coming in that we want to ensure are really prepared for high school. So it’s not perfect, but we’re getting there,” she said.

Like others, Bailey shared that the school had to adjust its opening schedule to accommodate the election; however, she believes that they will be able to navigate the period smoothly.

“We actually did our school calendar prior and we sent it out and then we had to make revisions when the [election] date was announced. So what we have done is that some of our meetings, we have put it online and then Friday, September 5, is when we’re going to start our orientations,” said Bailey.

At Denham Town High School, Principal Yvette Richards exuded confidence. She explained that her team had anticipated the possibility of the election overlapping with reopening and planned accordingly.

“Once the election was called, we met with our staff members and we got a consensus as to how to proceed. So as far as we are concerned, we are proceeding according to our original schedule in terms of orientation and we made some slight adjustments to next week and that has worked out well,” she said last week.

Despite the premises also listed as a polling station, Richards insisted that the students will not be affected.

“We are ensuring that everything the election teams need is provided, while also making sure the school is ready to host our children on Monday morning. We don’t anticipate any major issues,” Richards said, adding, “We were always ready to begin with. We’re born ready.”

Meadowbrook High School Principal Kevin Facey speaking to the Jamaica Observer at the St Andrew School last week. (Photos: Naphtali Junior)

A section of the Meadowbrook High School campus in St Andrew.

A section of the Donald Quarrie High School campus in St Andrew.

Donald Quarry High School Principal Talbert Weir makes a point during an interview with the Jamaica Observer last week.

Students entering grade seven at Camperdown High School turn up for their orientation at the Kingston institution last week Wednesday.

Camperdown High School Vice-Principal Allison Bailey talks about the institutions roll-out plan for the new school year in an interview with the Jamaica Observer last week.

MYRIE…whether or not we want to be ready, we have to be ready for September

Edith Dalton James High School Principal Orlando Worges is confident that, despite the election and the institution being a polling station, his team will seamlessly adapt to keep learning activities moving.

A worker puts some finishing touches to the paint job at Edith Dalton James High School last week as administrators prepared for the start of the new academic year.