DWAYNE MCLEOD, Staff Reporter

Several schools are being affected by the water shortage now gripping sections of Kingston and St Andrew.

THE STAR yesterday found that a number of institutions, both at the primary and secondary level, had to be implementing measures to combat the effects of the recent water shortage, including the possible spread of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD).

Schools, such as Vauxhall High, Charlie Smith High, Greenwich All-Age and St Andrew Technical, have implemented strategies to counter the shortage.

Yesterday, the cook employed at Greenwich All-Age had to report for work earlier than normal to counter a possible restriction later in the day.

Vice-principal Patricia Bowen explained that the water pressure was low and so school was dismissed half an hour earlier than normal at 2:00 p.m.

According to Bowen, students in the fourth grade would be sitting examinations next week and a lack of water could cause a disruption.

a major concern

"Right now the water pressure is very low," Bowen said. "The bathroom issue is also a major concern with the whole (hand) foot and mouth disease issue. We're trying our best to cut out any risks."

As it pertains to examinations, Principal of Charlie Smith High, Dennis Kelly, said exams had to be rescheduled to combat the lack of water.

"We try not to keep the students at school full time. We had to switch up exam times and schedule them for in the morning," he said, before adding that the situation was "not that bad".

Kelly, too, mentioned the concern over HFMD and said that water trucks had been summoned to the school on two occasions to facilitate the flushing of toilets.

"The students have to hand-flush the toilets. A sanitary inspector visited the school on Thursday and we're OK, but let's keep our fingers crossed. You know the (hand) foot and mouth thing is also an issue," said Kelly, who also said that students had been urged to take their own drinking water to school.

closing early

On Wednesday, Vauxhall High closed its doors early as there was no running water, a situation which called for the suspension of classes for students on the second shift, which normally begins at 12:30 p.m.

Yesterday, things returned to normal. But according to Noel Brackenridge, the school's vice-principal, should the problem reoccur, they would have no choice but to end classes early.

"Pipes on the lower section of the school have water, so it's not that bad. If it was a case where there was no water, then we would not have classes today, so we will be hoping that doesn't happen," he said when THE STAR visited the school yesterday.

When THE STAR contacted the Director of Communications at the Ministry of Education, Colin Blair, he said that the ministry was tweaking its drought-response plan, which would be made public soon. He said the ministry had an agreement in place with the National Water Commission to truck water to schools that needed it.

He said schools had already developed their own responses, such as advising students to take drinking water to school, staggering hours to ensure that water was used evenly, and using disposable plates, instead of those that required washing.