SXMElections.com

~ LaBega saddened by MP's remarks ~

PHILIPSBURG--Charlotte Brookson Academy (CBA) of the Performance Arts will be relocating from its current home at the University of St. Martin (USM) to another location at the end of the year.

USM Dean of Academics and Interim President Dr. Francio Guadeloupe said the contract between CBA and USM ends in June and the tertiary institution has given CBA until December to find another suitable location.

CBA has been occupying classrooms at USM since it first opened its doors almost three years ago to provide education for students with a strong interest in the arts and with a strong focus on academics.

A source close to CBA said the intention was never for the school to be permanently housed at USM. The institution had been expecting to receive a plot of land measuring 5,000 square metres at Emilio Wilson Park, to construct a building to house its school. Henri Brookson had intended to donate the land to the school which was named after his mother the late Charlotte Brookson.

However, the sitting government at the time did not go along with this proposal, leaving no land for the institution. CBA had sent correspondence to interim VROMI Minister Marcel Gumbs seeking an audience with him to discuss the issue and possibly an alternative to the land issue. However, the minister did not respond to CBA's invitation for a meeting.

In a letter published in the Opinion pages of this newspaper on Tuesday, Brookson said a "meetbrief" was already prepared to transfer the 5,000m2 of land behind Emilio Wilson Estate to the CBA, but said former VROMI Minister Maurice Lake instead "peddled off the 5000 m2 fast to RFT (Rainforest Adventures)."

CBA has 115 students in its first to third forms. The school occupies nine to ten rooms on the ground floor of USM, which are used as classrooms and several rooms on the upper floor which are used as administrative rooms.

Since the school was asked to move CBA has been looking for alternative, appropriate accommodation elsewhere. The school's management has looked at several locations and is in negotiations with a prospective landlord.

According to a source close to the school, Charlotte Brookson would prefer to have its own land and build its own facility.

There have been cases in the past where government stood as guarantor for institutions that took out loans to upgrade or even build schools, but in those cases the institutions had collateral in the form of land. CBA presently has no collateral.

In an invited comment about the matter CBA Director Claudette LaBega confirmed that the school will be moving. She said comments made in Parliament last week that it "does not look good" for CBA to be housed in the same building as the university, had a negative impact on students and cast a bad light on the institution which has an exemplary track record and an excellent working relationship with USM.

She said the comments, which were heard by students, were not taken well by the student body. She suggested that Members of Parliament (MPs) who want correct information about the institution just ask and are welcomed to visit CBA's Open House on June 20, to see first-hand the work being done at the school.

Labega stated CBA had existed peacefully at USM during the three years it had been located there. The time had been incident free with no negative occurrences amongst students.

Space needed

In the meantime, Guadeloupe said CBA has displayed excellent qualities during its tenure at the university. "I have seen that most of the students are well behaved. We have never had any kind of altercations such as fights [among students – Ed.] where police had to be called. This has never taken place. The issue is that CBA is growing and USM is growing."

Guadeloupe said the boards of USM and CBA met "a few weeks ago." During that time the decision to not extend the contract this year had been communicated to CBA. He said it was decided to end the relationship with CBA because USM is seeking accreditation and due to its collaboration with the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) starting soon, USM would also need the space.

CBA, he added, is also growing and would need additional space, hence the decision to give CBA six months to find alternative accommodation.

Save our School

In the meantime, CBA will be embarking on a "Save our school campaign" to raise funds to offset expenses that will be incurred from its relocation. The campaign will start with an open house on June 20, from 12:00pm to 4:00pm. Entrance fee will be US $5 per person. The open house will feature exhibitions with some of the work done by students. There will also be food and snacks on sale.