Parents and guardians queue up to attend a meeting at which the future of Central High School was discussed.

Parents of students attendingCentralHigh Schoolare vehemently opposed to the planned relocation of the institution toLodgeSecondary School, citing security concerns and the quality of education at that institution.

If authorities have their way, Central High would have to share the same D’urban Backlands location of Lodge Secondary in another two years.

President of the CHS local alumni chapter, Horace Cummings said chapters inNew YorkandTorontoare willing to fund the acquisition of land and the construction of a state of the art school.

“The name of Central High must never die. That is the unadulterated position of the alumni" he said of the 80-year old school.

Reporting on the outcome of a meeting between a school delegation and Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand to a packed auditorium of hundreds of concerned parents, Cummings said another option was a merger withBrickdamSecondary School.

He related that Manickchand assured that the relocation had nothing to do with the sale of theSmythStreetBuildingor a court-ordered eviction being sought by the overseas-based owner, Stella Lowe-Luck.

Rather, he said the minister highlighted the need for relocatingCentralHigh Schoolso that students could enjoy a better quality of education through the provision of better facilities. “The minister said she is interested in giving students better facilities but she wasn't aware of the whole idea of an imminent relocation until she saw the letter,” he said.

But parents expressed concern about the poor level of security, including violence, and the social conditions at Lodge Secondary School- guns and gays and lesbians. “The minister said it would be a non issue for the removal of Lodge students.  We were told that there would be two schools in the same veneue and at some stage might also share the same teachers,” he said to a loud uproar of disapproval.

Cummings warned that alumni chapters here and overseas could eventually pull the plug on support that they have been providing their alma mater.

As Cummings was speaking, several parents shouted “No way” and one man said “nah bother with that, too much guns.”

One parent recommended that authorities use the newly constructed idle building at the former High Street, Werk-en-Rust site of the now disbanded Guyana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC). Another idea was for the construction of  a new school on land available atSt. Joseph’s High School’s Woolford Avenue  Compound or land opposite the Guyana Defence Force Camp Ayanganna Headquarters.