Dr Wheatley made the statements on December 2, 2021, during a ceremony in which Trojan Design and Development Limited signed a contract for design consultancy services of the school to the sum of $99,480 while Sand Wise Limited was awarded a $136,079.50 contract for demolition and debris removal.

Dr Wheatley in a brief statement said, “We started meeting on a weekly basis to push through and make progress towards the point where we are today and we are going to continue to push through and make progress,” he said.

He said the dream is to ensure that every teacher, student, administrators and everyone who a part of the team at the school are back at the main campus of ESHS.

Monetary pledges from legislators and senior functionaries of the Recovery and Development Agency (RDA), along with the signing of contracts, have paved the way for the reconstruction of the Elmore Stoutt High School (ESHS) campus.

People of VI will own ESHS Campus

“We will own it and we will be able to put that quite sizable money that we are paying for the lease at the old Clarence Thomas Building, we will be able to reinvest that into our hard-working teachers, infrastructure [and] school programmes, and into all the other things that we require resources for,” he said.

Dr Wheatley said the VIP’s election campaign was to rebuild the ESHS and as such, “Don’t mind the talk, don’t mind the noise,” he said while promising to push through for the education system.

The Education Minister reminded further those gathered that his Government recognized how important the project is for the people of the territory, not just as politicians, but also as former teachers and former students of the school.

Dr Whealtey further said that he will not let anyone tell him that education is not a priority area, “My children go to the school right now and I want to make sure that they get the quality of education that they deserve and quality infrastructure that they deserve and I want all of the children to have that,” he said.