No cistern, no AC! deCastro outlines ESHS fixes
Elmore Stoutt High School in Lower Estate. (RDA photo)
Education Minister Sharie deCastro has acknowledged persistent water and air-conditioning challenges at the Elmore Stoutt High School, stating that corrective work is underway and that future school designs will address similar shortcomings from the outset.
Speaking on the Talking Points radio programme yesterday, deCastro said air conditioning was not factored into the construction of the school’s new facilities, requiring the ministry to retrofit the buildings in phases.
“When the school, the new facilities were built, air conditioning was not factored in,” deCastro said. “So we’ve had to really go back and look at that, and we’ve had to ensure that in a phased approach, we install air conditioning units,” she added.
She said one of the new buildings has already been outfitted, and a second building is scheduled for installation this year, subject to funding.
The absence of a cistern in the school’s construction has also been cited as a contributing factor to the water difficulties, with the minister noting that cisterns were not included in the original design. “Another reality is, when the school, was built, there was a challenge. The cisterns weren’t built. So there’s just a reality that we do have water challenges at the school,” deCastro stated.
She said the ministry has since implemented a plan to increase the campus’s water supply. “There’s nothing more painful than closing schools because of no water or electricity,” she said, adding that support from the Water and Sewerage Department and the BVI Electricity Corporation has assisted in addressing outages.
DeCastro said the experience at Elmore Stoutt High has informed a new approach to school construction. “What I know moving forward is when we build, we’re going to deal with everything up front at one time because it’s just challenging,” she said.
She explained that the ministry has intentionally scoped out standards for future builds, including soundproof music rooms, bathroom positioning, electrical systems, hand-drying facilities and other infrastructure considerations. “What we’ve done is intentionally scoped out our schools in terms of what do we want our schools to look like moving forward,” she stated.
The minister added that the ministry now employs two engineers to strengthen technical oversight of school infrastructure.
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That was the great vision of Natalio when he was education minister and the head coach when he was the Premier. The VIP has been a failure since 2019. 7 years later they are still incompetent including childish and controlling Sharie.
Full steam ahead cistern in a known flood zone.
A cistern doesn’t have to be underground…..
Your great grand parents designed with natural airflow in mind, together with cisterns fed from roof catchments.
They didn’t have a college degree, but they did have common-sense.
On point , there is such a thing as an educated fool.
who thought it was a good idea to approve this buidling when it lacked these essential stuff
IF it was not rushed…
EATS RAW MEAT
How are ANY buildings approved without cisterns. The worst part are these are 30+ year mistakes which cost economic output and will negatively effect a generation. On a side note, rental properties without cisterns and no water for tenants should not be able to charge rent.
Let’s go back and check the contract for the buildings. Was the contracted plan to include air con and cisterns? If the builder didn’t build that, did they still get paid?
Subject to funding she says…didn’t they just get the biggest budget ever? school design she still stuck on (Althea scatliffe school still can’t get rebuit to this day). And this “phased approach” bullshit!!! Natalio got yall like his little minions.
They just get a free playground and want to not use it because it didn’t come from her.
How you gonna built a school with no cistern and and no AC.. all the rules you want student to follow the bad planning a place of learning without the bare minimum???
Yall need to go!!!
I wonder if they have learned. Do current school construction projects include cisterns or are part mistakes just being continued.
when i saw them build the school and no ac was affixed to 90% of classroom i had to shake my head.
either cheap out or someone took a cut at the expense of our future children.
imagine big 2026 and we highschool still using fans and windows….. but we got big budget and big greedy bill.
either politicians think backwards or them play dum to pull schemes smh
town and country planning will give the regular joe hell but here we got this abomination in town.
lets no forget all the paid parking spots in town as if town was overwhelmed with limited parking spaces smh
The people put in charge just can’t get things right, n matter who is put in charge.
Something must be done with who is elected to serve the country and people.
BVI AS USUAL. UK now
The UK had needed to come and take over long time honestly.. is bare stupidness they doing, sigh
No free water from roof ( no guttering in position) just a big tank of paid water .
Saw this coming from Anegada! Didn’t the architect design for passive and active ventilation? Given the water issues territory wide; what was the alternative solution for potable water? How do they even flush toilets and wash their hands?
What a muck up!
Im from the old school and so I dont believe AC is necessary once ventilation was accounted for in the plans. We live in the trade winds. But if you absolutely must put in the AC units, please do not forget to account for the super high electricity bill and also the weekly maintenance bill.
As for a cistern……..seriously? In this day and age in a flood zone? Might be more economical to put black water storage tanks on the roofs. Cheap enough to replace quickly if hurricane blows them down (strap them down and together first of course).
how dumb this makes bvi look? so dumb you want bury story . .
astounding.
No backup generator either.
…..was none of this considered with the rebuilding of the new buildings in the first place…. DUMMBBB why do yal insist on doing things backwards is BEYOND ME!
It’s a good thing we removed all those glass windows.
Children attending that school from 1968 to a few years ago did not have any AC. ill just rest this here.