MINISTER OF EDUCATION Ronald Jones has been given an ultimatum to respond to the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) of St Christopher's Primary School by tomorrow about safety of the children attending school there.

If not, PTA members will "take a series of steps to make [their] concerns known".

The deadline came following an emergency PTA meeting held Tuesday night in light of an incident when an altercation allegedly took place, causing injury to a senior teacher last Friday.

"That was the last straw," said PTA president Karen Williams.

She told the DAILY NATION yesterday they had been trying to reach Jones on numerous occasions "but not getting any further than his secretary".

"The issues are that while the children are outside on the pasture, people are walking across the pasture with their hoes, cutlasses and whatever else they have, while others ride on their motorcycles and bikes when the children are having physical education.

"Now over 400 children are encompassed inside a small area outside the principal's office where they are now supposed to play because the teachers have refused to go back outside," she explained.

"(Jones) visited the school and all this was mentioned to him. It was mentioned to him, at that time, that the fencing was needed so when the (alleged) incident happened and all this was going on, there was no response from him," she said.

PTA member and parent of two boys attending St Christopher's Enith King said: "We have been dealing with this for more than four years. Letters were sent to the ministry even when Reginald Farley was Minister of Education and no one has paid us any attention, to tell you the truth."

When asked to comment on the situation, principal Anthony Graham said "as a civil servant, all my comments come through the Government Information Service".

Meanwhile, Jones responded yesterday: "I only received the letter from the PTA last Friday. I could not contact them over the weekend or the bank holiday Monday; Tuesday was Parliament and it was only (yesterday) I was able to address the letter."

"I will respond to them via correspondence. But I will meet with them at a time that is convenient for both sides. I have already spoken to the principal since April 30, when I visited the school about further security and safe-guarding the problem area," he said.

tracymoore@nationnews.com