Parents and teachers remain adamant about having more than two senior secondary schools in a reformed public education system.

President of the National PTA Mr. Ross Smith and Bermuda Union of Teachers organiser Mr. Milton Scott said parents and teachers remained opposed to the planned senior secondary school at Prospect.

And, they said, there were still many unanswered questions about the school that will be built to accommodate some 1,200 students.

At a meeting earlier this month, at Stonington, to update parents on the proposed curriculum for the new school system, Education Minister the Hon.

Clarence Terceira again ruled out the possibility of creating a third high school under the new education system.

Commenting on Shadow Education Minister Miss Jennifer Smith's suggestion of using the US Navy base's Chaffee High School as a third senior school, Dr.

Terceira said: "There's not going to be any third high school.

"But it is certainly a desire of mine to take over Chaffee as the St.

George's middle school. But that's not been decided on as negotiations are still going on.'' If the school does become available, it will mean the closure of St. George's Secondary's current site.

The restructuring plans call for the introduction of middle schools, an alternative school for unruly and violent students, mainstreaming of all special students, and two senior secondary schools, including the so-called mega high school at Prospect.

Speaking after the once-a-term meeting, Mr. Smith told The Royal Gazette : "We would like to see the senior secondary schools smaller than 1,200 students in one. We would like to have something smaller, based on zones, that is senior schools in three locations.'' He noted that Dr. Terceira had still not said what would make the senior school at Prospect safer than any of the current 200, 300, or 400-student high schools.

He also noted that while there was talk of having metal detectors at the school, other problems such as drugs use, fights, or low self-esteem had not been addressed.

"The only thing that could possibly indicate a change is the removing of problem children,'' Mr. Smith said. "But that would not solve the drug problem and resources that need to be available to help the children at risk.'' Mr. Smith said he would like to see a greater link between Government's home services and the schools.

"If there is a child that has been identified as a problem, that child's family and problems need to be identified,'' he added.

Mr. Smith said it was useless to address the symptoms of the problem without addressing the problem.

However, he praised the meeting between parents and the Minister.

"The presentation on Saturday (March 18) was good and something that should have been done a while ago,'' Mr. Smith said. "We would like to see it more often so people are not left in the dark. It is a step in the right direction.'' Mr. Scott stressed that teachers also supported restructuring the education system.

And he said: "We commend the Ministry for spending the money on this''.

But Mr. Scott quickly added: "We're not prepared to give a blank cheque to any Minister of Education. We cannot blindly commit ourselves.'' He said the BUT's position on the number of senior secondary schools had not changed.

"We have always supported three schools,'' Mr. Scott said, adding that this should be a consideration in light of the pending base closures.

However, he said there were still many questions for the Ministry to answer.

"Answers are coming in drabs and dribbles,'' he said.

He noted that the BUT -- who had "been talking about alternative schools for 10 years -- has made known its willingness to work with the Education Ministry in bringing about reform.

But, he said, so far the Ministry has chosen to go it alone.