ESF school under fire for new campus snags

Parents of Island School on Mid-Levels have complained that students are being forced to wait for at least 45 minutes to leave after those taking the school buses are gone. They are also worried that this practice would persist for years.

Some 1,200 students at the ESF school started the term on the new campus on Borrett Road yesterday, after three years of construction from June 2019.

As reported by The Standard on August 1, the rebuilt campus covers an area of 130,000 square feet, which includes a bus stop designated for school buses within the campus.

But a parent told The Standard that her child was held for 45 minutes and was not allowed to leave the campus until all school buses left on the first day of school.

"They wasted time waiting in school for 45 minutes and by the time my child reached home, it was already night time. What if my child has after-school activity outside school?" she said. "I cannot imagine this going on for years."

She questioned why the school needs to "lock up" the students for not taking the school bus. She also said the students may need to queue for sometime for a minibus after they are finally allowed to leave the campus.

"Is it a direct instruction from the Transport Department?" she said.

She said she understood that it takes time for the school to adapt to the new campus but she hoped it would listen to parents' feedback and make adjustments.

She has so far failed to contact the school about the exact car arrangements, saying: "Is there also something wrong with the school telephone line? No one can help me."

An Island School spokeswoman said: "We are working toward providing the best experiences for students. We thank the Island School community for their understanding while we settle into our new campus."

In an e-mail sent to parents yesterday, principal Stephen Loggie said the school will hold a Zoom meeting at 6pm today to explain the transport arrangements.

"We've had follow-up requests asking for a further explanation to our approach to managing transport and provide further information on how we use the adverse weather matrix to guide our decision-making process," Loggie wrote.

But the complaining mother argued: "We parents do not accept [the school] locking up the students for 45 minutes in school."

She said she would not join the Zoom meeting today.

Borrett Road, where the school is located, is a single two-lane two-way road about one kilometer long, connecting Kennedy Road and Bowen Road.

The road has been an illegal parking black spot and because Carmel School and Island School are near each other, private cars and school buses will enter the road to pick up and drop off students, causing traffic congestion.

Former secretary for transport and housing Frank Chan Fan told lawmakers in October 2020 - a month after two fatal accidents happened - that there are challenges for the government to widen the road due to its geographical constraints and proximity to historical buildings and monuments.

eunice.lam@singtaonewscorp.com