Uriah McPhee and Stephen Dillet primary schools will not open until tomorrow as officials continue to work to address several health concerns, Director of Education Lionel Sands announced yesterday.

The Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) claimed the schools have mold, rodent and termite infestation, and their air-conditioning units have malfunctioned.

Sands admitted the air-conditioning units malfunctioned, mold was found in Uriah McPhee and rodents were found in Stephen Dillet.

During a tour of the schools yesterday, Sands said officials are expected to complete the work by the end of the day.

Sands indicated the rodent problem was prevalent in the yard surrounding Stephen Dillet, which is located on Wulff Road. Uriah McPhee is located on Kemp Road.

Sands said the Department of Environmental Health has since dealt with that problem, but the stench of dead rodents may still be present.

Andrew Coleman, assistant secretary of education, estimated the cost of repairs at Stephen Dillet alone will be in excess of $50,000.

"At Uriah, you find that the major problem was with the air-conditioning as there were two units down," Coleman said. BUT President Belinda Wilson said teachers are prepared to return to the classroom. She said the union plans to go to both schools today to inspect the work that was done over the weekend.

"We also sent an independent person to do an assessment for us to see how remediation work was going," she said. "But we will be there to make sure that everything is fine.

Last week teachers at both schools carried out sit-ins in protest of the health conditions. Sands previously thanked parents and teachers for their patience and resolve.

"These are hard-working teachers, especially the teachers in both of these schools where you don't normally have them expressing their concerns like they have over the past few days," he said.

"There have been teachers whose patience was very long with us, especially under the conditions that we have at both of these schools."

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