With a registration package for her stepdaughter in one hand and transfer papers for her son in the other, Marcia Gentles arrived at Cumberland High School in Portmore, St Catherine, on Friday facing two very different battles: convincing one child to accept a school she fears and desperately trying to secure the other a place there before the new academic year begins.Neither move, she said, was by choice.“I’m having some financial challenges, and sometimes he misses class, and so on, and it is affecting his grades. So I said, why not move him to a closer school so he can commute to and from more easily,” Gentles told The Sunday Gleaner of her son, a grade-eight student at Mona High School in St Andrew.She is among scores of parents navigating the transition following the merger of the Hydel Group of Schools’ secondary-level operations with Cumberland High School, a move that has left some families anxious while staff remain optimistic that it will preserve jobs and ensure that students continue their education uninterrupted.Asked by The Gleaner at a press conference last month, Education Minister Dr Dana Morris Dixon confirmed that Hydel’s high-school operations would be merged with Cumberland High after the ministry concluded that the private institution could no longer sustainably operate its secondary programme. Due to deteriorating infrastructure, leasing complications, and state intervention – where the Ministry of Education began paying teachers and operational expenses – Morris Dixon said the merger was only fitting.For the academic year 2023-2024, for example, Hydel High, with an enrolment of 310 students, received at least $165,748,259.20 in funding from the education ministry. This included a $5.27 million operational grant from the Government, another $5.27 million for PATH, another grant of $1.3 million, and $500,000 towards maintenance. The ministry paid a further $153 million towards salaries and $486,000 towards resources. This works out to a cost of $534,671.80 per student.For the same year, Cumberland received $221,968,262.34 from the ministry with a per capita spend of nearly half of Hydel’s at $265,512.28. An operational grant of $14.2 million and salaries of $195 million were the main spend.Morris Dixon noted that Cumberland High, which has been operating below capacity, was selected because it could comfortably accommodate the combined student population.“We have a high school where many of the children who go to Hydel, they also live near to that school [Cumberland High] that has less numbers than we want,” the minister said on June 26, adding that the ministry had been working with stakeholders to facilitate a smooth transition.The Hydel Group of Schools was founded in September 1992 by former Jamaican Senator Hyacinth Bennett. Starting on Mannings Hill Road in St Andrew as a prep school with 300 students, the private institution quickly expanded and relocated in 1995 to the Ferry campus in St Catherine, the former site of the Coney Park amusement complex.The expansion over the years saw it adding a nursery; a pre-school; a preparatory school; a pre-first form (for students who are not academically ready for junior high); a junior high; a senior high; a sixth form; a special education centre; a remedial reading centre; an academic support centre; and an evening college for adults.Throughout its history, Hydel became a dominant force in Jamaican high-school sports, famously capturing the title at the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association Girls’ Athletics Championships in 2023 and 2025. It also developed a highly competitive football programme, winning the Walker Cup in 2018.Despite its successes, the private Hydel Group of Schools faced severe financial struggles, and its latest struggles are not the first to require state intervention. In November 2008, there was an uproar when the opposition People’s National Party (PNP) accused Prime Minister Bruce Golding of nepotism and misusing state funds. The controversy centred on the Urban Development Corporation’s (UDC) $168.7-million purchase of a 55-acre property in Ferry, St Catherine, to prevent the eviction of the Hydel Group of Schools. The PNP claimed the property price was highly inflated.The Government stated that the purchase was a cost-effective measure to save over 1,200 school spots and align with long-term metropolitan-development plans. However, the UDC faced controversy following allegations that the purchase was a politically motivated bailout for Bennett, who was then a government senator.The school owes the UDC significant sums, well-placed Sunday Gleaner sources say. However, questions sent by The Sunday Gleaner to the UDC for responses regarding the lease arrangement and funds owed by the institution remain unanswered after several weeks.A new dawnOn Friday, Hydel remained desolate, its compound showing visible signs of deterioration and ill-maintenance. A person manning the gate there told visitors that only the preparatory school at the location would be in operation come September. Furniture and equipment for the high-school students have already been relocated, he outlined.A senior staff member, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Sunday Gleaner that the Ministry of Education has decided to halt transfer requests from Hydel students seeking to find alternative schools after a flood of requests from nervous parents.Cumberland High has struggled with low enrolment over the years. Education ministry data shared with The Sunday Gleaner show that for the academic year 2022-2023, for example, enrolment stood at 39.3 per cent. While the school has a capacity of 1,320 students, only 519 were enrolled, leaving 801 spaces vacant.Eight hundred and thirty-six students were registered the following year, bringing the enrolment percentage to 63 per cent.For Gentles, the merger has produced mixed emotions.Her stepdaughter, a Hydel student, has automatically been placed at Cumberland but remains reluctant to attend because of her perception of the school’s reputation.School violenceLike many high schools, Cumberland High has periodically been mentioned in reports of student fights or disputes, including incidents involving students outside the school compound. These, however, form part of broader concerns about school violence across Jamaica.“She just decided that she doesn’t want to come here, but we have no choice because transferring her to a different school is going to be expensive,” Gentles told The Sunday Gleaner. “Most of the schools are filled. We tried José Martí [Technical] High, and they were full, and we also tried Ascot High, but that didn’t work either.”She said the family has spent the past three weeks searching unsuccessfully for schools that could accommodate both children. Gentles believes the move for her son will improve his attendance and significantly reduce his commuting costs.“I just came to pay for this and then take the letter to Mona,” she said, outlining another full and hectic day of “running up and down” to get the children’s school situation sorted. Inside the school’s administrative office, staff sought to reassure parents that students previously enrolled at Hydel have automatically been registered at Cumberland.“Once you are registered at Hydel, you are automatically registered here,” staff member Patrice Lindsay stressed.The Sunday Gleaner understands that some 600 students are expected to transition under the arrangement from Hydel, with about 25 parents having already collected registration packages. The students will wear Cumberland High’s uniform.Lindsay believes the numbers will pick up later in the summer as some parents are currently seeking transfers for their children who had been enrolled at Hydel.“Until you get a transfer letter from another school to say that they have accepted you, your child’s space is here,” Lindsay said. “And once your child is already attending Hydel, there is nothing more to do as a parent. You just walk in and collect your package.”Lindsay, who was informed of the transition between May and June, said classrooms at Cumberland have already been outfitted with desks, chairs, and other equipment transferred from the Ferry campus, off the Nelson Mandela Highway.She theorised that guidance counsellors and other staff from both schools would share responsibilities as the integration progresses.Although relieved that employees have retained their jobs, Lindsay admitted that the move has made her daily commute more complicated.“I live in St Catherine, so it is really just the drive and the fare. Before, I got a direct bus to Hydel. Now I have to make different connections,” she said.Security manager John Jennings* is facing a similar challenge.Having transferred to Cumberland in the same role he held at Hydel, Jennings said his transportation costs have nearly doubled.“Now I have to take something from Sydenham Villas to Spanish Town and from there to here. That is roughly $1,000 a day. Multiply that by the amount of days, and you will see that it adds up,” he said, albeit with a chuckle. Despite the added expense, Jennings said staff members are grateful they have remained employed.“So far, no one has been sent home, and we’re grateful for that ‘cause they also have the power to do that (layoffs),” he said.He acknowledged that some parents have expressed frustration over the transition but said Cumberland’s larger campus has the capacity to accommodate the incoming students.For Gentles, however, the priority is not the merger itself but ensuring the children have access to an education.“I just want them to be in school,” she said, walking to a bus stop outside the school gate en route to Mona High.

*Name changed to protect identities as requested.

corey.robinson@gleanerjm.com