Many government schools started on 29 August, though students at the Clifton Hunter High School began their new school year on 3 September, after the start date was pushed back from 28 August in order to make sure the new facility was ready.
The Clifton Hunter High School, located in Frank Sound in Grand Cayman, has cost somewhere in the region of $100 million to build and has been under construction for nearly three years. But rumours of water leaks at the facility due to recent heavy rains had to be addressed by the Cayman Islands Ministry of Education late last week.
Representatives from the Ministry of Education assured the public last week that there was no water leaking at the new school and explained how the impression that there were leaks may have developed.
“... [T]here has been no roof leakage over the past few days during the bad weather,” read a statement issued by the Ministry of Education. “One exterior door was inadvertently left open during moving activities into one of the academy buildings and some rainwater entered the building. There was no damage caused to the interior of the building and this area has already been cleaned and is ready for full operation”.
The statement continued by pointing out the school was ready for its 3 September start date.
The Ministry of Education also addressed whether the air conditioning system at the school was having some issues with climate control.
“In regards to the air conditioning, as it is with any newly constructed buildings, testing and balancing is required of the air conditioning systems to ensure optimal usage and efficiency,” the statement read. “The system is currently being fine tuned for this and so some rooms may experience slight temperate or conditioning fluctuations. This [was] scheduled to be completed by Monday, 3 September, in time, again, to welcome the first set of students.”
Education ministry officials also offered reasons why a door on the campus may have been left open.
“As you can imagine, there has been significant activity on campus over the last few weeks, with activities taking place associated with winding-down of the construction phase, moving equipment and supplies from the original Clifton Hunter site and assisting Teachers in setting up their classrooms,” the statement read. “During this process some doors had to be left open to facilitate ease of movement of bulk items. One was inadvertently left open. The matter has been addressed and steps taken to ensure that this type of incident does not re-occur. It is important to note that the water intrusion was minimal, was easily cleaned up and resulted in no damage.”