Cayon High School students and parents kept in the dark over mold issue

Mold has been found at another school in St Kitts and students and their parents have been kept in the dark.

According to a concerned parent, who spoke on condition of anonymity on Thursday night, the government has been hiding the information from students of the Cayon High School and their parents.

"The government needs to tell us what is happening so that our children can be tested to determine if they are infected in any way. I am told that teachers have been experiencing illnesses associated with mold," the parent disclosed.

The parent said the labs at the Cayon High School appeared to be the source of the mold and two officials of the Ministry of Education held a meeting with teachers on Wednesday and Ministry of Health personnel showed up at the school on Thursday.

"I am told that Acting Chief Education Officer, Daryl Lloyd and Deputy Chief Education Officer, Debbie Isaac had a long meeting with the Cayon High teachers on Wednesday and on Thursday, officials from the Ministry of Health went to the school this morning (Thursday)," the concerned parent informed.

The parent said chemicals were removed from the labs by the health personnel.

"There is an obligation for the government to inform us as parents of the students of the situation/ Parents have a right to know. The students have a right to know. Our children may have been experiencing illnesses and us parents may be thinking that these are due to normal illnesses and not realizing that the illnesses are as a result of the mold infestation," said the parent.

There have been massive outbreaks of mold at several government-owned institutions in the past three years. The National Housing Corporation (NHC) was fumigated, the Verchild's High School was infected, the  Department of Sport was forced to vacate to the media centre and VIP boxes at the Warner Park Cricket Stadium. The Ministry of Education also moved its administrative offices to The Cable Building on Cayon Street. The Administration Building at the main Burdon Campus of the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College (CFBC) was closed, reopened and closed again and mold was also found in the President’s Office forcing the occupant of the office to relocate to a container in the yard of the main campus.

The technical and vocational division has also experienced mold problems.

A section of Police Headquarters was closed due to the presence of mold as did a section of the Basseterre Police Station due to an infestation of bed bugs.

The Sandy Point Primary School was recently fumigated as a result of an infestation of cockroaches and rats.