Gumbs rebuts WITU statement, MGDW stop work order was lifted months ago

GREAT BAY--Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Melissa D. Gumbs has issued a detailed clarification following public comments by the Windward Islands Teachers’ Union concerning classroom conditions at the Marie Genevieve de Weever Primary School.

Minister Gumbs said the Ministry welcomes constructive engagement on matters affecting the health, safety and wellbeing of teachers, staff and students. However, she said that when public statements leave out important facts, the Ministry has a responsibility to place the full record before the public.

The matter follows concerns first raised in 2025 about conditions at the school, including pigeon infestation, unsanitary conditions, possible health risks, water damage, possible mold risk, exposed or damaged electrical fixtures, structural concerns and roof deterioration. A Labor Inspectorate inspection was conducted on November 3, 2025, followed by an Inspectorate report on November 5, 2025. A Stop Work Order was also issued on November 5, 2025 for affected classrooms and areas due to exposed bird droppings and suspected contaminated air. This was followed by a Directive dated November 7, 2025, which required corrective measures.

Minister Gumbs said those facts are important, but so is the follow-up that occurred afterward.

She reconfirmed that the Public Health Inspectorate lifted the Stop Work Order on January 12, 2026. The Stop Work Order had applied to classrooms 103, 104, 109, 113, 114, 115, 116 and 117 at MGDW, following the November 2025 inspection of the entire school. That inspection was carried out after the Minister requested VSA’s review of health conditions at several public schools.

“This does not mean that every structural or maintenance concern at MGDW had been resolved,” Gumbs clarified. “It means that the classrooms placed under the Stop Work Order were the areas identified by the Public Health Inspectorate as presenting the most critical health concerns at that time, and that those specific concerns were addressed to the satisfaction of the same authority that issued the order.”

The Minister said this distinction is central to understanding the current situation. WITU has questioned how the Stop Work Order could have been lifted if some classrooms, particularly lower-level classrooms, reportedly remained exposed due to missing window panels and other conditions. Gumbs said the Ministry understands the concern, but added that the public should not be led to believe that all newly observed or newly documented issues were necessarily part of the original Stop Work Order.

On Friday, June 5, 2026, the Division of Public Education received notification from the school manager of a proposed sit-out by staff of MGDW planned for Monday, June 8, 2026. On Sunday, June 7, Minister Gumbs received communication from the President of WITU confirming the intention of its members at MGDW to have a sit-out and inviting the Minister to attend a meeting with union members, school management and staff on Monday, June 8, at 7:30am.

Despite the extremely short notice, the Minister responded in writing later that day, outlining the status of the November 2025 Stop Work Order, the corrective measures undertaken, and the Ministry’s understanding of the concerns raised. In that response, she urged WITU to advise its members not to proceed with any disruption to the school morning and rescheduled the meeting to 12:50pm, at the end of the school day, so that the concerns could be heard without affecting instructional time, students or parents.

The Ministry noted that WITU’s public statement did not mention the proposed sit-out, the short notice given to the Ministry, the Minister’s written response of June 7, or the request that the matter be handled in a way that avoided unnecessary disruption to students and parents.

During the June 8 meeting, the Ministry again provided a comprehensive overview of the actions taken following the November 2025 inspection, including remediation works carried out in response to the Stop Work Order and Directive issued at that time.

The Ministry does not accept the impression that teachers were left without information. Updates were provided at school level, classrooms were returned to use following the lifting of the Stop Work Order, and staff were requested on multiple occasions to submit any remaining or additional concerns in writing. This was also communicated during the Minister’s April visit to MGDW, when the only matter raised with the Minister was the pending air-conditioning installation, not renewed concerns related to the Stop Work Order.

During the June 8 meeting, staff were again given the opportunity to identify unresolved concerns related to the original Stop Work Order. The Ministry reiterated that the specific issues which formed the basis of that Stop Work Order had been addressed, while also acknowledging that additional concerns were being raised regarding other classrooms and maintenance-related matters.

Following the meeting, and at the Ministry’s initiative, the Head of DPE and a member of the Minister’s Cabinet conducted a walkthrough with WITU, school management and teachers from the affected areas. The walkthrough documented concerns in several spaces, including classrooms 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 112A and the counsellor’s storeroom. The issues observed included missing louvers, ceiling tile deficiencies, possible pest entry points, plumbing concerns, and storage areas requiring cleaning and treatment.

For clarity, several of these spaces were not among the classrooms covered by the original Stop Work Order, which applied to classrooms 103, 104, 109, 113, 114, 115, 116 and 117. Gumbs said this does not make the newly identified concerns any less important, but it does mean they must be treated as additional or newly documented maintenance concerns requiring follow-up, rather than as proof that the original Stop Work Order matters were left unresolved.

The Minister said these matters have been documented for follow-up, and the Ministry will request further reassessment by VSA where necessary.

The Ministry also acknowledged WITU’s position that school health and safety concerns should not depend on repeated complaints, frustration or public pressure before action is taken. Gumbs said the Ministry agrees that a more reliable system of inspection, follow-up, accountability and communication is needed across public schools, which is why DPE is moving forward with a public tender for preventive maintenance across all public schools. The intention is to have a structured maintenance contractor and inspection schedule in place for the coming school year.

The Ministry has never claimed that all public schools are free of maintenance challenges. MECYS has repeatedly acknowledged the need for a more structured, sustainable and properly funded approach to public school maintenance.

“It was disappointing to see many of the facts and processes shared during the meeting omitted from the subsequent public narrative, while recommendations reiterated by the Ministry were presented as though they originated elsewhere,” Gumbs stated. “Dialogue must be honest, complete, and responsible. The Ministry cannot allow an incomplete public narrative to stand where important facts have been omitted, particularly where those omissions may create the impression that no action was taken or that concerns were ignored.”

Ruby Labega Primary School

Gumbs also provided an update on the Ruby Labega Primary School roof as part of the Ministry’s broader work to address longstanding maintenance and structural concerns across public schools. A June 1 site visit with structural engineers confirmed that, due to the advanced deterioration of the roofing materials and the current roof design, it would not be feasible to install galvanized roofing sheets on top of the existing roof structure. The current roofing system will therefore need to be fully replaced.

“The approach we are taking now is to initiate an emergency public tender process by the end of June, with the intent to start works in July,” Gumbs stated. “The target timeline for completing these works is by September 2026.”

Gumbs explained that her objective is to avoid relocating students during reconstruction, as this would disrupt learning. However, DPE and the Ministry are also exploring temporary mitigation measures, including possible class adjustments, in the event parts of the works extend beyond the reopening of school.

“It is my full intention to ensure that there is minimal disruption to teaching and learning experiences as we address this long-running structural issue,” Gumbs stated. “All timelines are, of course, tentative and fully reliant on the success of the public tender and the mobilisation ability of the winning bidder. This is one of the more concerning structural integrity challenges at our public schools, and it highlights the critical need for the preventive maintenance SLA that is being tendered alongside all other pending matters.”

Shared Responsibility and Proper Reporting

Gumbs said sustaining safe school environments requires more than emergency repairs. It also requires timely reporting, consistent follow-up and shared care for school spaces once improvements are made.

“The Ministry has its responsibilities, and we will continue to act on them,” Gumbs stated. “At the same time, proper reporting and care for public school facilities help ensure that issues are identified early, documented clearly, and addressed in a timely manner.”

The Minister also noted that WITU itself encouraged teachers to document concerns clearly, support them with photographs where possible, and submit them in writing to the respective school managers in keeping with established communication protocols. Gumbs said this is precisely the type of process the Ministry has been calling for, because proper documentation helps ensure that concerns can be verified, prioritized and addressed.

“Trying to catch Ministries, whether this one or any other, in a ‘gotcha’ moment does not help the teachers, students, or parents we are all trying to serve,” Gumbs concluded. “The challenges in our public schools were not created overnight, and they will not be solved overnight. But there is a difference between holding the Ministry accountable and presenting only part of the story in a way that creates unnecessary public distrust. Where facts are omitted or presented without full context, it becomes harder to move the work forward.

I will not engage in a public back-and-forth, but I will say this: there are measured approaches to solving decades-long structural problems, and there are reactive approaches that may create even greater disruption. My focus remains on the measured path: addressing urgent concerns, moving the preventive maintenance process forward, and ensuring that teaching and learning are disrupted as little as possible while we work through these long-standing challenges.”

‍