Dellwood parents have no complaints about another week's delay in the school opening.

The school, along with the Island's other four middle schools was, originally scheduled to open on September 8.

But due to construction problems mainly caused by bad weather, the Education Ministry decided to delay the opening of Dellwood until September 22 while the other middle schools and three primary schools were rescheduled to open today.

Last week, however, Education Minister Jerome Dill and Works and Engineering Minister C.V. (Jim) Woolridge announced that Dellwood would remain closed until September 29. Mr. Woolridge explained that extensive work was required on Dellwood which was to be the Island's only fully accessible middle school.

He noted that additional classrooms and "improved and modernised'' bathrooms had been built and a new elevator had been installed in the school's main building. But he said work was continuing on the library, aluminium windows had to be installed in a couple of buildings, and utility cables were still being set.

"Belco (Bermuda Electric Light Company) and the other utilities had to put in extensive cables and it was not adequate and safe for the children to go in that early,'' Mr. Woolridge pointed out. "Secondly, a lot of the cleaning was delayed because of additional work that had to be done.

"The Minister of Education decided, in his wisdom, after consulting with the architects and the construction people that it would be better to wait another week.'' Dellwood PTA president Shirlene Simmons told The Royal Gazette "the children's safety comes first''.

"We're all understanding about it,'' Mrs. Simmons said. "We knew before school closed that the children of Dellwood would be out a little longer than the others because of the restructuring.'' Mrs. Simmons added that parents' main concern was whether the curriculum would allow students to make up for the time lost. And she noted that Mr. Dill had given them assurance that this would happen. Meanwhile, day care will continue to be provided for Dellwood students whose parents could not make alternative arrangements.

Youth and Sports director Brenton Roberts said 24 spaces were available at the Angle Street Centre, opposite Dellwood, where his department has been supervising youngsters for the past week.

Registration for the 24 spaces will be held on a first-come, first-served basis at the Centre from 8.30 a.m. on Monday.