And if parents aren't happy about the complicated logistics of getting their kids to a school located across town from the one in which they were originally enrolled, who should they blame?
We put that question to the minister but he wouldn't lay blame at the feet of either the ministry or the diocese. He simply said that the solution to the problem of the condemned school is all that matters.
Cherisse Halsall:
"Sir, the deterioration of this building didn't happen overnight. It didn't even happen from the start of the pandemic. Who's fault really is this is it the Anglican diocese's fault?"
Hon. Francis Fonseca, Minister Of Education
"There is no merit, value in placing blame here. Obviously, along the way you know everybody has some level of blame. Ministry of education we need to do a better job of checking on these buildings on a regular basis, we don't have the staff to do it fully but our district education centers have to do a better job of keeping in touch with these schools to make sure that we are checking on them on a regular basis. So there is enough blame to go all around. The bottom line is that we have to move with a sense of urgency to address the issue to make sure that these wonderful students at St. Mary's do not get further deprived of their education, they have already been deprived for two years and so it's very very unfortunate that it has unfolded in this manner."
