ST. PETERS--Teachers and students at Starlight Education Centre were captured standing on the porch of the school around 10:00am on Monday, with the entrance to the school tightly padlocked.
Reports reaching this newspaper indicated that the school had been closed since last week Wednesday and that students at one point had been accommodated at a sports complex in Philipsburg.
However, Starlight Director Carmen Hodge declined to comment on the situation or to give clarity when contacted by The Daily Herald yesterday. She did not confirm or deny that the school had been closed and only said she had nothing to say at this time as she had been “working on something,” referring to an apparent solution.
One year ago, in January 2009, Starlight made headlines when marshals placed padlocks on the grilled doors at the entrance of the school in keeping with a court order of April 2008, in which Hodge was given two days to vacate the premises. She had not heeded that order as she said she neither had the funds nor an alternative location. She eventually found a solution with the aid of some anonymous business persons and the school was reopened after a month.
Some 180 students, ten teachers and a cleaner were affected by the closure at that time. However, the details of the current closure could not be ascertained.
Starlight is one of an estimated 10 schools catering to hundreds of primarily undocumented immigrant children in St. Maarten, who in the past were barred from mainstream education.
In August 2009 Leader of Government and Education Commissioner William Marlin reopened Charles Leopold Bell School in Cole Bay to accommodate children without residence papers, in keeping with the government’s commitment to facilitating compulsory education.
This phased introduction of compulsory education is expected to continue to allow older children to enter mainstream education.
