Virginia Park Elementary school council questioning construction delays

 A member of the school council for Virginia Park Elementary in St. John's is questioning why it's been months since any construction has taken place on the site of its replacement school, in the east end of the city.

Peter Whittle said the site, adjacent to the existing school, has a two-storey steel frame with a fence around it, but there's been no sign of work since at least mid-June. 

• Virginia Park Elementary delay 'unacceptable,' says school council

Whittle, who is also president of the province's Federation of School Councils, called those idle summer months a missed opportunity.

"School gets out, suddenly it's quiet, there's no kids around — a great time for construction. And absolutely nothing going on whatsoever," he told The St. John's Morning Show.

Unforeseen issues

The Department of Transportation and Works is in charge of tendering the work, and is now targeting Sept. 2017 for the school to be ready, a revision to the earlier completion date of Sept. 2016.

"What I understand now, is the tender process is working its way, and they actually are to go to tender very, very soon. I'm not sure of the exact specifics of days or weeks," said Education Minister Susan Sullivan, speaking on behalf of the Department of Transportation and Works.

In a statement, the department said the tender delays are "due in part to unforeseen issues that were identified with the site for the school, and site preparation."

The site sits atop a former American military base. Site remediation has revealed an array of buried debris, including airplane fuselage.

'Lipstick on a pig'

"Fuselage is not the issue here, it's a red herring. The government is trying to put lipstick on a pig here," said Whittle.

Whittle feels project management is causing problems.

Whittle said a government report from 2007 stated the current Virginia Park Elementary was dilapidated and unsafe. 

"We've been in that school since then, we've been trying to keep it functional, and nothing's really been moving," said Whittle. "The kids deserve better than this."