SCHOOL STRENGTHENS FENCE, SECURITY

AFTER the fatal mauling of a grade one pupil at the Tejero Elementary
School, school administrators, parents, teachers and barangay officials met
to discuss measures to prevent a similar tragedy.

The school will now implement an ID system, log in all the visitors,
strengthen its perimeter wall and build a waiting area for parents fetching
their children from school.

Assistant Division School's Superintendent Recaredo Borgonia said these
measures would take effect after the Parent-Teachers Homeroom meeting on
Sunday.

Borgonia said parents would no longer be allowed to enter the school
campus, but instead wait for them at a waiting area to be built by the
school. He said radical changes would also be implemented as regards school
policies especially with the new school administration. Mrs. Josefina Fabio
assumed as principal just recently, after the election.

Borgonia said they would also prioritize the complete fencing of the school.

Perimeter Walls

Councilor Manuel Legaspi, chairman of the education committee of the Cebu
City Council, said the city had long prioritized the fencing of public schools.

He said several schools have been fenced but not the Tejero Elementary
School which is home to close to 4,000 elementary students, where a few
days ago, seven-year-old Salbert Samonte was mauled to death.

But Legaspi said Tejero was set aside for a while because it required P1
million to build a perimeter fence. They also had to refine the program of
works for the project.

Public schools in Bario Luz, Tisa and Hippodromo along with a few others
were the first recipients of the fencing project by the city government
since March of this year.

But according to the Department of Education Regional Investigation
Committee report, the former school administrator of Tejero had "asked the
assistance of the city government" (and made subsequent follow-ups) but no
repair was made. "

The fencing project came during the end of last school year when local
officials received reports that drug pushers were climbing over the fence
to sell their illegal merchandise especially to night high school students.

Blame

But Borgonia said the dilapidated wall around the campus should not be made
an excuse for the mauling that happened.

He cited the Lahug Elementary School, which has a good perimeter fence but
there are still reports of rampant drug pushing.

Instead, the school administration and the guards should be alert, Borgonia
said.

The education official also plans to organize a Junior Drug Watch to help
identify drug users inside the campus.

He asked the barangay council to help in preventing drug addiction.

Legaspi assured that the city government would always be supportive of the
Department of Education.