Repairs to Colonel Hill High School on Crooked Island, often called forgotten by residents, will have to wait as all bids to reconstruct the facility have been rejected by the Tenders Board, according to Minister of Education, Science and Technology Jerome Fitzgerald. Colonel Hill High was rendered unfit to be occupied after the passage of Hurricane Irene last year, and sat untouched for months until a Nassau Guardian expose brought it to the attention of education officials.

Fitzgerald, who promised to deal with the situation, said in September that the ministry had sent out bids. He said he had no idea why those bids had since been rejected. "I was off the island at the time. Since I've come back, I've asked for them to report to me what the reasons were for it," said Fitzgerald. "They have redirected us to put it back out for bid again so I'm not sure what the issue is why it got to that, but I will find out shortly what the issue is and report on that." Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) President Belinda Wilson previously said the teachers union would take industrial action if the school was not completed by the end of the year.

However, she said in light of the Tenders Board's rejection, the union will operate in good faith with the minister. "The minister in this instance has no control over the rejection of the bids as that is done by another ministry," said Wilson yesterday. "We want to be reasonable in our decision. But once we have found out why it was rejected we would work along with the Ministry of Education to get that school rebuilt soon." Colonel Hill High had its roof torn off, its walls had collapsed and since then textbooks were left strewn across the floor.

Fitzgerald came under fire after spending the first week of the academic school year touring various schools on New Providence, Abaco and Grand Bahama, yet when asked by The Guardian about the state of Colonel Hill High, he said he would have to look into it. Fitzgerald later shot back that the school was not "forgotten" and that the ministry was trying its best to have repairs done by the end of the year. Students and teachers currently use a temporary facility to have classes. The principal noted that there is also a bar on the same property. Wilson, however, said she doesn't believe that the bar is functioning. She added that the temporary facility is an adequate space for the 33 students and nine teachers until Colonel Hill High is repaired.

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