Action called on ‘deathtrap’ school

PARENTS are calling for action after a 20 kilogramme lump of concrete fell onto a school playground.

They want the Regional Government to finally fulfil its promise to build a new school in Rojales after branding the present building a ‘deathtrap.’

The Colegio Público Príncipe de España has been in a state of disrepair for over a decade. Renewed protests by AMPA, the Parents Association, come after the piece of concrete fell off the crumbling school and landed on the patio play area.

“Does someone have to be hurt before action is taken?” asks parent Tracy Burns-Ahmet. “The AMPA has been fighting for years but it is just getting worse. Door frames are non-existent, there is lead in the pipes in the drinking fountains and when it rains the pupils huddle in corners as the roof leaks.”

Leidy Auburn agrees: “It is horrendous. It is unsafe even for animals and has been condemned by architects and the fire brigade. My eldest is due to go there in September and I am panicking about it.”

Rachel King provided photos to The Euro Weekly News showing serious cracks in the gymnasium walls, classrooms with cracked tiles and rusty, broken pipework and ‘temporary’ buildings placed on top of the septic tanks, causing damp to rise.

Rachel said: “To say it is dilapidated is too kind. It is a dangerous death trap and a serious accident just waiting to happen.”

The local council is behind the parents and their calls for a new school but funding needs to come from Valencia.

Photographs of the state of the school are currently on display in the Rojales theatre and AMPA has organised a protest march through the town on Saturday from 11am.