Removal of mould in a Pembroke school cost more than $444,000, new figures have revealed.

And renovations to the bathrooms at a Warwick school cost about $400,000.

The cost of the mould work at Dellwood Middle School and the price of new bathrooms at TN Tatem Middle School were published in the Official Gazette in line with public access to information rules on government contracts worth more than $50,000.

The figures also revealed that the Government awarded three companies contracts to carry out mould remediation work at Dellwood in July 2017 — AMR Services Ltd, Sustainable Environment Services and Island Construction Services.

Those three companies were paid $222,850, $133,968 and $90,960 respectively, with a completion date of September that year.

The combined cost of $444,778 was in line with those announced by the Ministry of Education in August 2017.

Kelland Hayward, former head of the school’s parent teachers association, said the figure showed how serious the mould problem had been.

Mr Hayward added that an air-quality assessment and environmental testing of the building was completed in June 2017, but the results were not released to the PTA or staff.

He said: “This, despite receipt of a letter from the education commissioner stating that the results would be shared shortly after they were received.

“This about face, and failure to share the report, was very interesting in light of the situation at TN Tatem the previous year.

Mr Hayward added that an independent air-quality report on TN Tatem was given to the education ministry in late 2015 after teachers and parents complained about mould.

The report found that use of the building was safe.

Mr Hayward said: “Not only was that report shared with the PTA and staff, it was made public by the then Minister of Education Wayne Scott.”

The issue of mould in the island’s middle schools was raised in late 2016, and the Government announced it would examine several schools including Dellwood.

The school was closed in June 2017 because of concerns about the state of the building and Cole Simons, the then Minister of Education, said refurbishments would be carried out over the summer.

A public works spokeswoman said: “Works were completed at the schools and all refurbishments and upgrades undertaken were in keeping with ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our students.”

Diallo Rabain, who took over as Minister of Education after the PLP’s election victory on July 18, 2017, said the work at Dellwood would cost about $450,000. Dellwood reopened to pupils in September 2017 — two days after other schools started their year.

The contract to renovate the bathrooms at TN Tatem Middle School was awarded to AD Construction in July 2017.

The contract was valued at $397,000 with a completion date of the start of September.

One other school-related contract was listed in the Official Gazette — a $67,200 contract to Sunrise Construction for “flat-roof renewal” at Purvis Primary School in Warwick.

Dellwood was not the only government property that encountered issues with mould.

The Government paid TES Ltd $298,510 to clear mould at the Supreme Court building on Court Street.

The contract was awarded in June 2017 and completed in March 2018.

Other high-value contracts included stabilisation work on the Railway Trail in the Winton Hill area of Hamilton Parish, which cost $946,082, and erosion control at Black Watch Pass in Pembroke, which cost $651,949, both to be carried out by General Services Ltd.

Both contracts were awarded in January 2018 with an expected completion date in March 2019.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Public Works said the Blackwatch Pass project involved “extensive construction works”.

She said: “The extensive works included the removal of areas of soft rock and vegetation and securing weaker sections of the pass.

“Regarding Winton Hill, these intricate works were also extensive, and involved scaling of the rock cut, including the removal of vegetation, loose soil, rock, the stabilisation of the rock face by installing rock bolts, filling small voids with lean concrete and applying architecturally rendered shotcrete to the stabilised rock cut.”

The cost of a feasibility study, along with preliminary plans and specifications for replacements for the Swing Bridge and Longbird Bridge in St George’s, was listed at $336,761 — less than the $400,000 estimated by the Ministry of Public Works.

The company which conducted the study — Ramboll UK Ltd — also won a $136,603 contract for structural design at King’s Wharf in Dockyard.

The contract was awarded in February last year and is expected to be completed by March.