BLACK RIVER, St Elizabeth — A school leader here is getting ready to support struggling households amid concerns of a repeat of the last school year when several students ditched the classroom for work.

Principal of Black River High School Christopher Romans believes there is hope for those students, who he said eventually returned to school, but not on a consistent basis as they reportedly were balancing academics and working to offset the financial hardship faced by their families post-Hurricane Melissa, which ravaged the coastal town and its environs last October.

“The challenge may continue in terms of attendance, because there are people who are still feeling the financial crunch based on the fallout from the hurricane. We know that we will have to be more vigilant with that to see how best we can support students with materials for school, [possibly] transportation, whatever we can do as a school considering our limited resources to assist students to be here,” Romans told the Jamaica Observer.

The Category 5 storm battered Black River destroying institutions and buildings surrounding the school and in the coastal town.

Romans said he is expecting a population of 1,450 students in September at the start of the new academic year.

“We were quite fortunate in that we were able to locate our students. Those who didn’t turn up at all [in our search] had relocated to other parishes. There are less than 10 students from grade 10 who didn’t return any at all and it was difficult for us to account for them,” he explained.

Reflecting on the previous school year Romans pointed to the worrying trend of students ditching class for job opportunities.

“The challenge that we had with both grades 10 and 11 from last [academic] year is that their attendance level dropped significantly, so it would appear to us that due to financial constraints and I understand that some of the boys were engaged in part-time work, so they came to school for some number of days while doing part-time work,” he said.

Romans added that a survey was conducted on students by the school’s Guidance Counselling Department.

“They did some interviews from grades seven to 11 and they identified some of the reasons which included illness, transportation issues, financial constraints, and some students mentioned that they were experiencing some kind of anxiety and they didn’t feel so motivated to return to school,” the principal told the Observer.

He said the decline in routine attendance was compounded by the financial constraints facing households.

“I know that for a number of our parents they lost employment, so it really was a challenge for them to send their children to school on a regular basis, because we recognised right across the board that attendance for grade 10 and 11 dropped significantly. [The students] would turn up from time to time, but not consistently,” he said.

Regarding the school’s infrastructure, Romans said the rebuilding has been supported by several entities including overseas charities.

“Work is far advanced on repairing the fence and we are quite grateful to the Ministry of Education through the National Education Trust for that. They are building a wall. We also got a grant from HELP Jamaica! out of Germany. They are also sponsoring our rebuilding of a perimeter fence. We got grant funding from the United Way of Jamaica to assist with the restoration works. We also got support from First Global Bank and CEMEX (Carib Cement Company),” said Romans, while pointing to the slow pace of procurement for expert builders.

Romans said the sheeting on the school’s auditorium has been replaced, and there are plans for a solar system and air conditioning units.

“Black River is a very warm place. The [auditorium] is usually used for exams and for a few classes. The heat in that area is quite unbearable,” he said.

Roof decking has been undertaken to two classrooms on the school’s technical block.

“We currently don’t have access to the Guidance Counselling Department, the sickbay, and about four other classrooms. I was told that by September the supporting materials to deck the roof will be removed, so we can have access,” he said.

Romans said gazebos, the school’s security post, and cottages are now being worked on.

“The finishing work that is quite significant is behind. In terms of electrical work, some areas have been restored, but other key departments still don’t have power to run machines for students to do SBAs (school-based assessments),” he said.

Romans also pointed out that some blown-out windows have not yet been replaced.

“If the windows are not installed then you can’t replace the desks, because they are vulnerable to water,” said Romans.

The possibility of delays in the rebuilding has left the school leadership to consider how to accommodate students.

“We may have to go on rotation for the first two months targeting grades eight and nine,” said Romans.