CLASSES at the Sapangdaku Elementary School were disrupted yesterday after the Guadalupe River overflowed due to a heavy downpour.
The school, formerly called the Baksan Elementary School, is located beside the river.
Barangay Captain Lorna Damalerio said they had asked the City Government to relocate the school several years ago.
Looking for options
Following the suspension of classes yesterday, the Cebu City Local School Board, along with Damalerio and representatives from Department of Education (DepEd) 7, called for an emergency meeting to find a temporary solution to the problem.
During the meeting, Damalerio proposed moving the school to a 300-square-meter lot owned by the City.
The property is near the main road and is a much safer area, she said.
School board member Jose Daluz III said the City is eyeing several options to address the problem.
He said 20 families occupy the lot where Damalerio wants the school to move.
“The affected residents have been complaining of the plan to transfer them to give way for the construction of the school,” Daluz told reporters.
Evicting them is one of the challenges the City needs to hurdle, he said.
As a temporary solution, Daluz said, the school board already asked DepEd to allow 500 students to attend classes in nearby schools like the Napu Elementary School in Barangay Sapangdaku and the Guadalupe Elementary School, while City is working on a long-term solution.
He said the City will deploy buses to ferry the students to the other schools.