to stop classes earlier than usual.

The school decided to dismiss its 392 students about an hour before the end of the school day after running water for toilet flushing and drinking ceased.

The incident was the third disruption in the past two months of the school term.

"One of the tanks we were using became empty,'' principal Carol Bassett said.

"We do not understand why.'' Water had been flowing at maximum capacity up until that point, she added.

But by 3.30 p.m. water had been pumped into another tank.

Mrs. Bassett said: "So we have water for drinking and flushing again. The plumber has been working on getting to the bottom of the problem.'' And she stressed that classes will resume this morning as usual.

"We are Stanford Diagnostic Testing,'' she said, explaining the test is to evaluate the reading and math skills of students from Primary Six through the last year of senior secondary school.

But one parent, who did not wish to be identified, told The Royal Gazette he was disgusted with frequent class disruptions.

And he suggested that an emergency meeting be held "to get serious with these problems''.

Since the new school term resumed two days late at the school, Dellwood has been plagued with leaking roofs and unclean classrooms.

Last month teachers and students staged a surprise walkout to protest conditions at the school.

The school, which is still undergoing renovations, is seeking the services of a contractor for the cleaning of the facility.

But the concerned father said the school needs full-time janitors, rather than a company cleaning the school at the end of the day.

And he called on other parents to publicly voice their concerns.

"The bottom line is that this cannot continue,'' he said. "We expected some delays. But the water problems are not new. They have been going on since Mr.

(Dale) Butler was here (as principal). This cannot go on.'' However, chairman of Dellwood's board of governors Leonard Santucci said he had not received any complaints from parents regarding the school's water problems.

And he noted that parents had the opportunity to express their general concerns at a PTA meeting held about a week ago.

Rev. Santucci said it was also unfair to compare the Dellwood of this year with last year.

"The delay (in opening) was roughly due to the infusion of $5 million,'' he pointed out. "I think people who visit the school are appreciative of that.'' While there were still some "minor incidentals'' which needed to be addressed, Rev. Santucci said: "In my opinion the overall consensus (among parents and teachers) is that tremendous strides have been made.''