Edition 101
www.thecourier.es
Friday, January 25, 2013
OUR SCHOOL’S A DEATH TRAP! Parents’ sit-in sends warning to Valencia doubters
WORRIED parents and teachers will stage a protest sit-in tonight (Friday) hoping to convince the Valencian Government to replace their children’s ‘‘death-trap’’ school. The local administration supports the campaign to rebuild Principe de Espana school in Rojales, which one parent described this week as in a ‘‘horrific state’’. The fire service has condemned the existing building - and the regional authorities have an architect’s report to back the project. Yet officials in Valencia are reluctant to
EXCLUSIVE by DONNA GEE authorise or to give assurance that a new school will be funded and built at the earliest convenience. The apparent indifference of the politicians has infuriated families of the 500-plus pupils, who fear further delays could prove fatal - literally. Rachel King, a fulltime mum whose sixyear-old daughter Jasmine attends the school, told me: ‘‘Just a few weeks ago a 20kg piece of concrete fell from the roof whilst thankfully the children were in class. If
it had landed on anyone, it would have without a doubt killed them. ‘Only last week in Santa Pola, nine children and their teacher were hospitalised when the floor of their classroom gave way.’’ Describing the school as in a ‘‘horrific state’’, Rachel chronicled an ‘‘endless’’ list of complaints about the 40-year-old school. The problems include:
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No fire escape from the first floor of the building. Lead piping running throughout the school. Sub-standard electrics which mean classrooms have to be heated in turns. Cracked and crumbling supporting beams General dampness – and sewerage rising into the playground when it rains.
Cracked: The roof of the main school building
‘‘The foul water rises back into the playground, creating filthy puddles,’’ she says of the rising damp problem, which arose because 'temporary' buildings are situated on top of the septic tanks. Rachel, who moved to Rojales with marine-engineer husband Richard from Hampshire nine years ago, added: ‘’I could go on, the list is endless. It really is an accident waiting to happen.
Breaking up:The classroom sinks “We live in an area that is prone to earthquakes and the high wind is a worry as the structure is in such a precarious state. ’’ At least 100 teachers, parents and pupils are expected to attend tonight’s sit-in, which has been organised by the AMPA parents’ organisation AMPA.
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