AT least three schools in Portland are racing against the clock to finish hurricane-related repairs as well as procure much-needed furniture and books for the start of the academic year on September 7.

Though spared the wrath of Hurricane Melissa, Happy Grove High School was damaged by Hurricane Beryl, rendering six of its classroom uninhabitable for more than two years due to damage to the roofs. Funding issues have been at the root of the delay. The school’s repairs are now at 90 per cent completion. However, windows and doors damaged from the 2024 storm have yet to be replaced.

Fair Prospect High, which was hit by Hurricane Melissa last October, recently completed roofing repairs to two classrooms, with work still ongoing to plaster sections of walls, install windows and doors, as well as to secure desks and chairs for students.

At Machioneal All-Age School, storm showers destroyed textbooks, some of which are still to be replaced by the Ministry of Education. The school is also in chronic need of desks and chairs, many of which are infested by termites, broken, or have missing pieces of cushion.

Vice-principal of Machioneal All Age School, Richard Derby, shows the condition of one of 60 chairs the institution needs replaced before the beginning of the new school year. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)

Despite the heavy task ahead, the schools’ principals say they are optimistic about completing projects by September 7, and if not, they will find a way to make things work.

Principal of Happy Grove High Monique Grant-Facey said she is relieved to finally be in the home stretch after two long years of waiting, and is crossing her fingers that the work will be completed in time for the new academic year.

“For the last two school years we have functioned without six of our classrooms, which was really detrimental to us. We found ourselves in a situation where we had to be using rooms which were not slated to be used as classrooms. They were rooms which were…not friendly to either students or teachers. The conditions were really bad. We were having students function in rooms that were like an oven… When we thought that it would be dealt with in 2024 and we would get the repairs we needed, that wasn’t done, and it dragged into 2025 and now 2026,” said Grant-Facey.

She told the Jamaica Observer that she was forced to turn the library, music room, technical drawing room, and industrial arts room into classrooms — areas that were not suitable for large classes and had poor ventilation. In some instances, the principal said students had classes outside to fight the heat.

Machioneal All Age School Vice-Principal Richard Derby examines a section of the school’s perimeter fencing which was damaged, resulting in stray animals having access to the compound. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)

“…At the end of the last school term I remember a set of grade nine students said to me, ‘Miss, will we be getting our classrooms?’ and I said, ‘Based on how things are looking we should be getting them,’ and so I have to hold to that promise that when they get here next week the rooms can accommodate them,” she told the Sunday Observer on a visit to the institution last Wednesday.

Grant-Facey said she was informed by contractors that issues with payment were the reason for the reconstruction delay, but she was given the assurance that the work will be completed in time. She said the roofs of all six classrooms have been replaced and the building is being painted, but the greatest challenge that remains is the replacement of doors and windows for the affected areas.

According to the principal, the contractors informed her that the scope of work for repairs at the institution did not include windows and doors, but they are now making arrangements because of the hazardous situation the missing windows pose for students.

“It’s really a hazard waiting to happen because based on the type of windows, the space that is there, someone can actually be pushed through. It’s a three-storey building, and that is the third floor, so you can just imagine if accidentally someone should come through that window,” said Grant-Facey, her voice laced with concern.

Granville Lawrence, a maintenance worker at Fair Prospect High School, points to missing windows on a grade seven classroom the school is rushing to replace. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)

She said her ‘plan B’ is to barricade the space if the windows are not replaced in time, to minimised the risk to students.

“I was just saying to myself that if we have to do this again, it’s not gonna happen. We’re just gonna have to say to the ministry we are not doing this because we cannot function without six classrooms, and the students are uncomfortable. If the students are not comfortable, they are not going to learn; the teachers are not comfortable teaching in these spaces either and so, at both ends, the stakeholders are uncomfortable. How do you expect them to function at maximum? It’s not gonna happen,” she insisted.

Over at Machioneal All-Age School, Vice-Principal Richard Derby said there is a chronic need for furniture. He shared that while the school was spared the full force of Hurricane Melissa, the school had to request replacements for 60 chairs and desks that were damaged.

“The chairs are deteriorating with termites and old age, so we requested to replace them. If it doesn’t come, then we’ll just have to go with the old ones again, hoping for the best. They have been deteriorating over the years through hurricane damage, water, and termites. We got some last year and the year before, but we still are not at the number we need to have,” said Derby.

He added that areas such as the science, mathematics and visual arts departments have no furniture and they are unable to make maximum use of the space.

The principal added that the school is also in need of textbooks for grades four to six.

“In some areas we are short roughly 30 books for each subject area. We haven’t thrown away the old books, but some pages are missing and so if we don’t get them, we will just have to continue using them and other online resources until we get those. The students are who are important and we can’t just give up because we don’t have them. We have to find other ways of making sure things happen,” he told the Sunday Observer during a visit to the institution.

He added that the biggest challenge for the school is the lack of proper perimeter fencing to keep stray animals out. He said the animals destroyed the school’s farm, which was built to supply the canteen, and are a health hazard.

“When they come, they burst the pipes and leave their mess all ’bout the place. Sometimes we will set up for a competition the next day, and the morning when we come we have to be cleaning up the mess because the animals come overnight and mess up the place. We have reported it. We have spoken to the police and the Ministry of Health, because it is a health risk with the animals’ faeces, but everybody is just telling us that all we can do is [im]pound them, and we don’t have the capacity to do that or the manpower, so we just need a perimeter fence to keep them out,” said Derby.

Principal of Happy Grove High School, Monique Grant-Facey, points to missing windows on the third storey of a classroom block she says presents a hazard for students and need to be replaced. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)

A tour of Fair Prospect High also revealed that the school is still repairing damage sustained during Hurricane Melissa, hopeful that work will be completed before the start of the new school year.

At least two classrooms with damaged roofs are undergoing repairs. The classrooms have sections of exposed brick, as well as gaps along the intersection of the roof and the wall. Additionally, windows and doors are missing from the affected classrooms, some of which were in the process of being replaced.

Vice-Principal Andrea Myrie-Moore said she is optimistic the repairs will be completed in time. However, she said the school is in need of furniture.

“We are hoping to get some from the ministry for the start of September. We have gotten a few from our Member of Parliament, and we have purchased some…Presently, we have about 150. We ordered another 100 that we anticipate will be delivered next week, and we got another 33 as a donation. Our total population is about 340, so if all goes well, we will be good,” said Myrie-Moore.

GRANT-FACEY…if we have to do this again, it’s not gonna happen (Photo: Naphtali Junior)

She lamented the lack of tanks for water storage at the school, noting that the institution can supply water for a week before it needs a refill. She said the school does not have piped water, but receives trucked water from the National Water Commission.

“All things considered, we will be ready come September morning said an optimistic Myrie-Moore.

More than 600 educational institutions sustained damage across Jamaica during the passage of Category 5 Hurricane Melissa in October 2025. The institutions suffered varying degrees of damage, particularly those in western parishes including Westmoreland, Hanover, St Elizabeth, Trelawny, St James, and St Ann.

The Ministry of Education has allocated roughly $25 billion for extensive school infrastructure repairs and reconstruction while organisations like the National Education Trust (NET) have finalised repairs on heavily impacted institutions, with work ongoing.