A school created to give students a second chance to earn a high school education will close its doors at Southside next month.

Founder of CARE (Children and Adults Reaching for Education) Computer Services, Sen. Neletha Butterfield revealed to The Royal Gazette that a lack of public transportation servicing the area and funding was crippling her efforts.

And she said she feared that if she could not find a central location for the school soon, she would have to shut down the 13-year-old operation which began in the basement of her Pembroke home.

However, Sen. Butterfield -- who speaks for the Progressive Labour Party on education in the Upper House -- stressed that she intended to see the 20 daytime students earn their GED (General Education Diploma) which is the equivalent of the high school diploma.

"I made a promise to these students to see them through to getting their high school diploma,'' she said. "So if I can't find anything, we're going back to my basement, even if we have to sit on the floor.'' Sen. Butterfield recalled that Bermuda Land Development Company realty specialist Valerie Wallace sold her on the east-end location.

"She has been extremely good in terms of the rent and how we can go about marketing it for more people,'' Sen. Butterfield said.

But she noted that the move proved to be a disaster. And she said no other small business had moved into the area since she arrived.

She explained that one of the reasons behind the move in May was the demand for the services by high school students.

"We have requests almost on a daily basis,'' she said after initially moving to Southside. "But one problem is that some are not yet 16. The law requires for our students to be in school until that age.'' Sen. Butterfield also pointed out that even if CARE was allowed to take in younger students, neither she nor many of the students would be able to afford it.

For $500 a term, CARE offers computerised courses, Internet usage, computer assisted instruction for students, computer skills, and preparation courses for the GED programme which includes writing skills, literature, the arts, science, social studies, and mathematics.

But Sen. Butterfield said many of the school's 38 students cannot afford to pay $500 up front so some were paying whatever they could on a weekly basis.

In addition to a shortage of tuition fees, she added that she had to pay $1,471 for rent each month as well as utility bills, land tax, maintenance, and insurance fees.

She estimated that she spent some $52,000 in the past five months. And she has arrears totalling some $15,000.

But she said the only assistance she has received was a recent $1,200 donation from the Leopard's Club.

Sen. Butterfield's bid to gain charitable status for CARE was rejected.

Therefore, she pointed out, she could not accept above a certain amount in donations.

"All I wanted was a year to raise the money so that I can allow students to come here who cannot afford to come,'' she said, adding that she could not allow the students to attend for free due to operational expenses.

But Sen. Butterfield said a lack of adequate public transportation service has posed the greatest hindrance to her school.

Noting that most of her students came from the central area of the Island, she said: "Parents want to know that their children can safely get on a bus to get to school and to get back home.'' She added that the school was opening earlier so that students coming from Hamilton could catch the few buses which entered St. David's.

But she said the area was not served by any buses at night. Therefore, students without transportation could not attend.

"Some students have dropped out because of the transportation problems,'' she added. "The students that come here now mainly are the students I pick up myself.'' "It's a shame because it's a nice environment,'' she added about the Southside area.

"Now we have to leave all the renovations which we spent thousands of dollars on. We even put in our own metre box.

"I would not advise any small business to come down here unless the transportation system is improved.'' Sen. Butterfield said the former base lands also lacked sufficient public pay phones, bus shelters, and lighting at night time.

"Night classes are a disaster because we can't keep (outside) lights on because of airport runway regulations,'' she said. "We have to turn on a car light or someone will shine their bike light when we're ready to leave.'' Sen. Butterfield said she has sought full-time employment to keep the school afloat.

"It is with regret that we will be moving,'' she conceded. "But we can't stay here fooling ourselves.

"We will stay out here until the end of November. But we're sending out an SOS -- save our school.'' Sen. Butterfield is scheduled to meet with Premier Pamela Gordon and Education Minister Jerome Dill on November 24. But she said she was afraid that meeting will come too late to save the school.

She explained that they were not able to meet earlier because both Ms Gordon and Mr. Dill planned to be abroad before then. And she planned to take some students abroad to sit the GED which is no longer administered in Bermuda.

Money for the trip will have to come from bake sales and other minor fund raising efforts, she added.

Anyone interested in assisting CARE can call Sen. Butterfield on 293-5062 or at home on 295-7837. The mailing address is P.O. Box DD157, St. David's DDBX.

STRENGTHENING CARE -- The Leopard's Club recently donated $1,200 to Children and Adults Reaching for Education (CARE) to help the financially-weak organisation remain open. The funds will be used to pay for the fees of two students next year. Pictured, from left, are student Derrick Gibbons, CARE founder Sen. Neletha Butterfield, Leopard's Club president George Smith, and student Jeremy DeShields.