Clearwater Middle School students started their school year yesterday after asbestos in the ceiling of the cafeteria delayed the start.

And Paget Primary students are also back in their classrooms after a partial start on Wednesday.

Maintenance on both buildings caused the delays with asbestos issues at Clearwater and unfinished bathrooms at Paget Primary.

Last month asbestos was found in the ceiling of the Clearwater Middle School's kitchen. After clearing it out, tests were done to determine if it was safe to return.

This newspaper understands there were termites and water damage in rooms at Paget Primary and some of the bathrooms were also in need of serious repair.

Vice Principal of Clearwater, Derek Tully, said the results of the air samples came back negative except for the cafeteria.

"We had a really nice day today. We had parents come and they came with the kids and sat in assembly with us. The kids were glad to be back, the parents were glad to be back and the teachers were glad to be back. The school's looks good."

He continued: "The problem we had was the roof leaked in the cafeteria and on to the air conditioner. The air sat without any kind of circulation for six weeks.

"We got the air tested and it came back OK except for the cafeteria area. We have put the cafeteria in the assembly hall and Pizza House is the provider for school lunches so they set their equipment there.

"It will be there for the next five weeks. We're back up and running."

Dr. Tully said new M1 students at Clearwater were given school bags donated by V M Ware, a computer-software company.

Each bag contained a calculator, USB drive, pens, pencils, geometry set, dictionary, ruler, markers and post-it note pad.

VM Ware also donated 12 Dell PCs and two iMacs to the school.

Mike Charles, general secretary of the Bermuda Union of Teachers (BUT) said Paget did open partially on Wednesday and have been fully opened since.

"To the Ministry's credit, all their people were up there with their gloves on and they did go to work to get it ready. Our President Keisha Douglas' daughter goes to Paget and she said the teachers looked pretty upbeat.

"I think things are finally getting into place. I don't think the bathrooms are ready and they still have their challenges with leaking but I think there are schools throughout the Island that are like that and it's something we keep bringing to the Ministry's attention."

Mr. Charles said the union would continue to "press" the Ministry about the air quality samples in every school.

He said testing should be done regularly to make sure the air is safe.

He added: "Our teachers are coming down with respiratory problems and we need to find out what the air quality is to make it a safe environment for the teachers and students."