Tendai Franklyn-Brown, Staff Reporter

These students look through the locked gate at Mount Moreland Primary and Junior High in St Catherine on the first day of the new school year. Parents locked the gate to protest against the reappointment of the school's principal. The more than 400 students were deprived of classes until the police, following a meeting with the parents and education ministry officials, opened the gate with a hacksaw. The parents said the principal, who was recently given a one-year extension after being sent on pre-retirement leave, was not strict enough. - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer

Schools in St Thomas reopened yesterday, though principals are still facing challenges as attendance levels were low, due to sections of the parish still being without water and electricity since the storm's passage last Thursday.

Now that access between Kingston St Thomas has been restored, school administrators are looking forward to purchasing supplies.

Marcia Haughton, principal of Port Morant Primary and Junior High School, was anxious to get to Kingston for supplies. The school, which was flooded, has no water or electricity and was closed as a result.

"Our tank is dry, so we had to close the school," she said. "The whole community has no water or electricity. We have contacted the ministry (of education) and told them we expect to open next Monday."

Challenges expected

Eslin Malcolm, principal of Bath Primary and Junior High School, told The Gleaner the reopening of the institution did not go without its challenges.

"The attendance of the primary school is about 50 per cent, but the junior high is much less, at about 20 per cent," she said. "But this is because a lot of the students live in areas like Airy Castle and Spring Bank that have no electricity or water."

tendai.franklyn-brown@gleanerjm.com