Maryland school reopens, but no students present

THE Maryland RC Primary School reopened yesterday, but students did not turn up for classes. Newsday was told teachers and principal Sandra Bernard reported to the school with police officers and an MTS guard, but parents kept their children away. The school reopened after Tuesday’s violent threats to Bernard and another teacher by a 20-year-old gunman. The Ministry of Education had assured that when the school reopened, there would be armed police officers. When a Newsday photographer visited the school, he did not see the police nor the MTS guard, but a school official assured Newsday there was an armed policeman present and teachers would be at school again today for classes. It is unclear how long the school will have police present.

No reason was given for the children’s absence, but speculation was that parents feared the school would be “unsafe” because of Tuesday’s incident. Teachers have received counselling from guidance officers and counsellors. The school was also closed last week because there was no water. The Ministry of Education subsequently repaired the pipe, which was broken by vandals, and spread asphalt on the broken road leading to the school. Parents have been complaining about unsafe conditions at the school because of the isolated location and also because of the problems created by the shifting earth, which has damaged the road to the school preventing vehicular access, and a severely cracked wall is now on the verge of collapse. The gunman’s threats stemmed from an incident between Bernard and a member of staff on Monday. No arrest has been made.