Four primary schools could face closure as part of the Bermuda Government’s School Reorganisation (Score) Plan but no decisions have yet been made.

Parents and teachers yesterday voiced concerns over the possible closures of Gilbert Institute, Prospect Primary School, St David’s Primary School and Heron Bay Primary School — all listed in the Government’s Score report as potential candidates.

Yesterday morning, Wayne Scott, the Minister for Education, outlined some of the findings of the full Score report, which is now available to the public via www.moed.bm.

As well as potential closures, the report outlined potential school mergers.

Mr Scott, who told The Royal Gazette that he could not rule out closures taking place this academic year, outlined three scenarios per “zone” — the central zone, eastern zone and western zone.

Aaron Lugo, a St David’s islander and former St David’s Primary School student, said he would fight to save the school should it face closure.

Mr Lugo told The Royal Gazette: “I hate to hear news like this. I don’t know what the grand scheme of the government is but if it is just for financial reasons then I want to know how it benefits the children.

“You have to spend money on your people to make them feel like they are worth something and for many a year St David’s was isolated with no supermarket and nothing really for them. We are a community unto ourselves and if they take a schooling system away from us, what then?

“If they transition students to the other schools they have to think about teacher/students ratio.

“I know they have financial reasons but you have to think how does it affect this community, how does it affect the buses, how does it affect school programmes? There is more to consider than government budget — people’s livelihoods are at stake.

“I would hate to see it happen and if it was facing closure I would do what I could to advocate for it. It is upsetting to see a piece of your culture, a piece of your history close down. I love the whole community of St David’s and I will stand up for it.”

Yesterday, Mr Scott said that enrolment data would be “critical” in the process of considering closures and consolidation. Heron Bay Primary School principal Lisa Swan said the best way to secure the future of a school would be to register with that school.

Ms Swan said: “The only thing I would really encourage parents to do is if they want Heron Bay to be their school of choice then go ahead and register on Thursday. From what I have seen so far enrolment is going to be effective — if you want Heron Bay to be your school of choice, you need to register. We had a lot of people come and see our school for registration and I think they were very pleased with what they saw.

“Until a decision is made, Heron Bay is still a choice. I would hate for anyone to miss an opportunity when Heron Bay may not even be one of those schools that is closing.

“Who wouldn’t be nervous if your school is at least being ‘thrown out there’ but this is an opportunity to prove them wrong. We are a thriving school, we are doing great things.”

Otis Minors is a former student of St David’s Primary School and has children attending.

“As a family we would have to spend more money on uniforms so financially it would hurt,” he said. “We would have to have them travelling on the bus to get to school. St David’s Primary has been around for umpteen years; it is part of St David’s history. It is where most of us who live in St David’s attended. We are proud of the school.

“St David’s Primary has taught me a lot. I learnt different things about nature on Nonsuch Island with Mr [former Principal Edward] Wright. My children are enjoying it there — my daughter’s teacher is doing extra classes over the summer.

“The school is great and students had good marks last year. The community would be upset if the school closes or even that it is being considered. It is a small school but in being small, schoolchildren are getting more attention and are learning a lot more.”

Mr Scott said that further consultation would be needed before any firm decisions are made. “Let me emphasise that the Score Advisory Committee was mandated to collect and present the data, not to make decisions,” he said.

Mr Scott also touched on some of the other findings in the report including health and safety issues arising at some of the schools.

He encouraged all parents and the general public to read the 196-page Score report, and the deadlines for school registration are tomorrow, Thursday and Friday.

Chairman of the Bermuda Parent Teacher Students Association, Harry Matthie, said he remained concerned about the public consultation process surrounding the report.

“Our concern is over the consultation process and if it is being followed — a real consultation process,” he said. “The process leading up to the decision has to be fair, include all stakeholders and everybody, giving us the time and the information required for us to weigh in in an informed way. We need to see the raw data so we can do our own analysis of it.

“I will be calling a meeting for the BPTSA. We agreed in our last meeting that we were going to prioritise the issues — pick the top-three concerns in the report and work on a solution for them.”

An open consultation is now under way and will continue for four weeks, ending on March 4. The details will be released “later”. The public can send feedback on the report to educationconsultation@moed.bm. Mr Scott added: “The data findings detailed in the Score report and any other feedback I receive from stakeholders will be used as a foundation to lay the building blocks necessary to move the public school system toward improving the quality of our students’ educational experience.”

Mr Scott also talked of a capital expenditure plan to address issues with the state of school buildings.

• For Mr Scott’s statement in full, click on the PDF under “Related Media”