By Admin. Updated 4:27 p.m., Wednesday, February 19, 2025, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).
Several parents of students attending St. Vincent Girls’ High School have expressed their frustration to One News SVG regarding a flea infestation problem affecting the school.
The school has been located in a temporary facility built on the tarmac of the decommissioned E.T. Joshua Airport in Arnos Vale since 2021, while awaiting reconfiguration of its Kingstown Campus. This situation has led to several class disruptions due to the flea infestations.
Today’s early dismissal is yet another instance of this ongoing issue.
The area which also once temporarily accommodated the St. Vincent Grammar School now temporarily accommodates the Thomas Saunders Secondary School.
Parents of students informed One News SVG that their children have been repeatedly bitten by fleas. The flea problem typically arises when stray dogs take shelter under the school buildings, which are constructed on elevated piles. When it rains, the fleas emerge in large numbers.
In previous occurrences, the Ministries of Health and Education have coordinated spraying of the area to stymie the flea infestation, but because the problem with the stray dogs in the area persist, the problem simply returns.
In April 2024, hundreds of students attending the St. Vincent Girls’ High School (GHS) and the Thomas Saunders Secondary School (TSSS) received an early dismissal today (April 23) as a flea infestation problem reportedly resurfaced.
At that time, One News SVG contacted the President of the SVG Teachers’ Union – Mr. Oswald Robinson for comment.
Mr. Robinson who visited the area at the time said the SVG Teachers’ Union is concerned about the loss of instructional time and the health and safety of students and teachers at both schools.
He said this is not the first time the flea infestation has caused the schools to be temporarily closed, and the Union is calling on the Education and Health ministries to implement more proactive response measures to the issue.
“We want the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health to work collaboratively to have this problem of fleas in the schools at that location to be thoroughly looked at. We need to have a systematic programme in place where the schools can be treated with the infestation of fleas, properly sanitized, and disinfected. Doing it one or two days is not effective. You need to treat the place; close the schools for about a week and then do an assessment,” Mr. Robinson told One News SVG.
One News SVG 