School bus mix-up
Disappointment, anxiety over unit promised to Little Bay All-Age but now committed to Mile Gully High
THE ADMINISTRATORS at Little Bay All-Age and Infant School in Westmoreland have been left feeling cheated after the Ministry of Transport and Mining blocked a decision to give them a Mitsubishi Rosa Coaster bus under the Rural School Bus Programme, and has instead committed the vehicle to Mile Gully High School in Manchester.
Both educational institutions are located in deep rural Jamaica where transportation is a challenge.
The Transport Authority had funded the purchase of the vehicle and another given to Tacky High in St Mary through its corporate social responsibility programme, but Transport Minister Robert Montague is blaming the National Education Trust (NET), the state entity that handles charitable donations from the Government, for the misunderstanding.
The minister said that he was made aware of a commitment to Little Bay on the day of the official handover of buses to Tacky High and Mile Gully High in Manchester, whose student populations are made up of nearly 80 per cent Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH) beneficiaries.
“Our policy is very clear… the beneficiary must be a high school, located in rural Jamaica, and the majority of the students must be on PATH,” Minister Montague told The Sunday Gleaner. “A primary school could not qualify, but somebody at NET had gone ahead and given a commitment to the primary school in Westmoreland to get them a bus; this had nothing to do with us.”
In a letter dated June 1, 2020, Latoya Harris, director of donor and partnership management at NET, advised Keron King, principal of Little Bay, that the school was the recipient of a 30-seater Mitsubishi Rosa Coaster bus, under the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information (MoEYI) Rural School Bus Programme.
The document outlined t he school’s management on its responsibilities, including to license, insure, identify a competent driver and maintain the unit, which is valued at $8.5 million.
“NET is pleased to be able to assist the school in this regard, and we hope that this bus will go a long way in alleviating the issues experienced by students and teachers in commuting to and from school,” Harris said in the letter.
Harris acknowledged receipt of several questions sent to her by email from The Sunday Gleaner and advised that she was awaiting approval before responding, but this was not received up to press time.
COMMUNITY DISAPPOINTED
Little Bay’s principal Keron King came to national prominence after a video went viral of him using a motorcycle to deliver worksheets to his students when schools were ordered closed in March 2020 following the onset of COVID-19.
Among his achievements since he took charge three years ago is the establishment of a school garden and a chicken farm that supply the school’s breakfast and lunch programmes for close to 80 per cent of the student body, including needy students who are not on PATH.
Under King’s stewardship, the school was also upgraded on the National Education Inspectorate Report from unsatisfactory to satisfactory. Literacy and numeracy numbers also improved significantly, producing topperforming Primary Exit Profile (PEP) students, some of whom were recognised with scholarship awards to prominent high schools.
When contacted, King declined to discuss the school bus issue. However, chairman of Little Bay’s school board, Euton Swaby, told our news team that the entire community is disappointed with the Government’s decision.
“We are very upset with the decision because the motorcycle is the only mode of transportation in this area,” Swaby said. “There is no public transportation for our students or the teachers, so our principal’s dream was to get a bus to serve the school.”
He added, “Mr King did a proposal to NET, who sent a team to do an assessment of our school, after which we were notified that our bid was successful.”
Approximately $140,000 of the school’s funds was spent to insure and license the vehicle, when they were advised that the bus must be transferred to Mile Gully High.
“The news shook the entire community and parents who had started to send their children here because we would now have reliable transportation have removed their children,” Swaby said.
A 36-month restriction is on the certificate of titles, which could mean that the bus will have to be operated in Little Bay’s name over the period, but Montague insisted that the Coaster be given to Mile Gully.
SMALLER UNIT
The Transport Authority wrote to the Westmoreland-based school, with a commitment that a smaller unit will be purchased for Little Bay, but this is dependent on the number of fees and renewals collected at the tax office.
Christopher Tyme, the principal at Mile Gully High, said that the bus has not yet been handed over to his school, but refused to comment further when advised that the certificate of title is already in Little Bay’s name.
Mikael Phillips, member of parliament for the constituency of North West Manchester, in which the school is located, while sympathising with Little Bay Primary, is hoping that the unit will be handed over to his school.
“I am aware that Little Bay was also promised a unit, and that the Coaster suits Mile Gully,” he said. “My understanding is that Little Bay is holding on to the documents, so the transaction cannot be fully completed, but we are anxiously waiting for the bus to be handed over to us because this will be a big help to our students.”