Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) President Belinda Wilson recommends that the government condemn Stephen Dillet and Uriah McPhee Primary Schools, claiming that health and safety concerns persist.

However, Minister of Education Jerome Fitzgerald said on multiple occasions that concerns have been addressed and the schools have been approved for occupancy by the Department of Environmental Health Services (DEHS).

"The Bahamas Union of Teachers requests that all teachers at those schools be seen by a physician paid for by the employers, which is the government," said Wilson in an address which aired on ZNS over the weekend.

"BUT also requests that all students be tested who have experienced any respiratory problems. The BUT recommends that the government condemns both schools and the BUT has also asked the government to relocate the schools by January 2014."

Concerns surrounding those schools first arose in September. At the time, BUT claimed the schools had mold, rodent and termite infestation, and their air-condition units had malfunctioned. Wilson said many of those concerns have not been sufficiently addressed.

Officials have admitted that air-conditioning units malfunctioned, mold was found in Uriah McPhee and rodents were found in Stephen Dillet. But Fitzgerald said the schools are safe for students and teachers.

"It was made clear from the Department of Environmental Health [Services] from day one when we brought them in that the concerns of those schools were not hazardous to the health of teachers and kids of those school," he said in the House of Assembly last month.

"But there was a tremendous amount of work that was recommended, and we felt that in order to get it done, we would have to close the schools for a particular amount of time and other stuff would be ongoing."

He said the ministry spent $350,000 between those two schools in order to address those concerns. "So that's not an issue," he said, referring to the union's health concerns.

"It is not an issue because at no point was it a health hazard and that was confirmed by DEHS." But the union remains dissatisfied. Teachers have been on work to rule for about a month.

In addition to pressing the government to deal with its health concerns, BUT is agitating for access to school campuses during school hours. Fitzgerald said previously that BUT will only have access to schools during after school hours or in the case of an emergency.

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