Whitney Institute officials challenge closure plan
Trustees at Whitney Institute Middle School have been left “very disappointed” that the 140-year-old establishment will be closed in 2025 under sweeping education reforms.
A letter highlighting concerns from the board’s chairman to Diallo Rabain, the education minister, was released to Whitney parents after a meeting on the closure this evening at the Smith’s parish school.
Pastor Terence Stovell told Mr Rabain in the April 12 letter that ministry plans designating the present Clearwater Middle School in St David’s as the signature secondary school for the East End overlooked Whitney’s “longstanding record as a school of choice at the middle school level” as well as its “good results over the years”.
Trustees called for “serious consideration” of Whitney to be designated the East End signature school, or remade as the Smith’s parish primary school, before “a final decision”.
Noting Whitney’s long history, Mr Stovell said it would be “a shame for this legacy to be abandoned” as the Government moves ahead with phasing out middle schools.
He also queried the logistics in placing the pupils of St George’s Preparatory School, East End Primary and St David’s Primary at Whitney while East End is remade as a parish primary school.
Trustees have “severe reservations” on the school’s ability to handle the move, which was announced on April 16.
Mr Stovell warned that the school would need “substantial renovations”, including plumbing repairs, to handle the influx of students — although a lack of water supply to the school’s old primary section has since been repaired.
The chairman wrote: “While it is not yet clear how many students or classrooms will be required for this, Whitney has not had primary-age children on campus since 1972 and the school is and has been fitted out for older children since.”
He questioned whether Whitney’s students would have their own principal with another for East End pupils, and how administrative tasks would be divided.
Putting East End students on the Whitney campus would put the Government in the role of being “tenants of the trustees”.
Mr Stovell added that “part or all” of Whitney’s campus might be able to function as the Smith’s parish primary school.
If the Whitney Institute closes, Mr Stovell said, details needed to be shared on the requirements and funding as the M2 and M3 years moved to signature schools after 2023-24 — with Whitney accommodating the final M1 year through M2 and students leaving in 2025.
He told the minister that Whitney trustees needed “a much better understanding” of how the transition would be carried out.
The letter followed a meeting on March 31 between Mr Rabain, Mr Stovell and Bill Zuill, the deputy chairman of the board of trustees and head of digital at The Royal Gazette.
Mr Stovell said Reeshemah Swan, the Whitney principal, had been briefed on the plans to take the school out of the island’s public education system.
He said the letter to Mr Rabain was meant to serve as a “preliminary response” pending further talks.
Parents of students attending Whitney Institute Middle School expressed confusion and frustration during an engagement session outlining the Government’s reform plans last night.
Some in the audience criticised the fact that Diallo Rabain, the Minister of Education, and Kalmar Richards, the Commissioner of Education, were not present and questioned why they were being asked to submit questions via a QR code system to be answered at a later date.
Pastor Terence Stovell, the chairman of the board of trustees at the school, rose to his feet to inform those in attendance that the decision to close the school had been announced to the trustees on March 31 in a meeting with Mr Rabain and Philip Butterfield, the co-chairman of the education governance committee.
The Government announced recently that Whitney Institute will close and that the students from all three St George’s primaries will be moved to Whitney while East End Primary is rebuilt as a parish primary school.
Pastor Stovell said: “We don’t know the conversations that were had with the East End schools so we were not really in a position to make any decisions because we are not aware of the entire scope. We came back to our principal and staff, and began to collaborate, which ended up with us sending a letter to the minister informing him of the concerns we have about the decision that was made.
“We are at a place where we are waiting to hear back.”
Many in the meeting at the school, chaired by Leeann Simmons, of the Education Reform Unit, and Terri Cox, of the Department of Education, voiced concerns about Whitney Institute housing primary and middle school students at the same time, with one parent describing it as “a scary situation”.
One father asked why all three St George’s primary schools should close and the students attend Whitney when they could just remain at the St George’s schools while East End Primary was rebuilt. The question was not answered. Another highlighted that the Government had itself said that too many transitions can be detrimental to learning.
Some also expressed doubt that the necessary changes at Whitney to accommodate primary-aged students including the construction of a playground and adapted bathrooms would be completed in time for the transition.
Ms Simmons said it was likely there would be some active construction during the transition period but added that she would have to get the information to the parents at a later date.
The fate of Whitney’s staff, who are employed by the school but paid and given benefits by the Ministry of Education, stood out as the trustees’ main concern.
Mr Stovell said the board wanted assurance that staff would move to other schools in the same way that employees of maintained schools were.
“Treating them differently at this stage — when their employment conditions are changing due to decisions over which they have no control — would be unfair and would send a bad message to those aided schools which remain in the system,” he wrote.
“We would also hope that as teachers who have worked and been trained in the middle school system, that they would receive sufficient training to make their transition to signature schools or primary schools a success.”
Whitney Institute’s physical condition after its closure still needed to be addressed, the chairman warned.
He said the school’s board of governors had also been briefed on the meeting with Mr Rabain — and that the issues needed to be raised “so there can be a full discussion going forward”.
• To read the board of trustees’ letter in full, click on the PDF under “Related Media”.
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