JIS:

Proceeds of a coffee festival held recently in Cedar Valley, St Thomas, are to be donated to the Cedar Valley Primary and Junior High School, to aid in the erection of a perimeter fence, as part of the school's security-management strategy.

Some $80,000, proceeds from two festivals, will be given to the school at a special handover ceremony during a parent-teacher association (PTA) meeting on Monday.

President of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) Cedar Valley branch, Patricia Greenleaf-Taffe, said the school was being invaded at will or used as a walking path by both friendly and unfriendly persons, posing a serious risk to students and school property.

"Passing every day and seeing the opening [up] of the school and idlers come in, I went to the meeting (of members of the JAS Cedar Valley branch) and threw it out, and they said it was an idea, and since it was a coffee area, we could have a coffee festival [to raise the funds]," Greenleaf-Taffe said.

Community's involvement

Principal of the school, Carmen Donegan, said she was grateful for the community's involvement. She added that the money would provide a good start to what could be considered the first phase of a fencing security management project.

The fencing, estimated to cost a total of $3 million, will be the school's Labour Day project this year.

"This money is really a drop in the bucket, but it's a start. We plan to have a community work day, where people come in and assist on Labour Day. So, if we can start, we can get other people on-board," said Donegan.