Additional steps will be taken this year to deal with the growing problems of unruly behaviour in schools - with plans for a new alternative school not being ruled out.

Minister for Education and Development Paula Cox told Parliament on Friday that although there was no cash set aside as a capital expenditure this year for a new school for badly behaved students, if it was deemed needed, and if a suitable building became available for rent, the money would be found to pay for it.

But she also said the Ministry was bringing in an experienced arbitrator to mediate between teachers, students and the Ministry to find solutions to the ongoing problems with behaviour.

Ms Cox's comments followed a protest in December when the entire teaching staff of CedarBridge Academy held a sit-in at the school over rising problems with discipline, some of it criminal. All 900 pupils were sent home as a result of the action.

Ms Cox said: “In recent months teachers have raised a number of concerns about discipline issues at our senior schools.

“The Ministry of Education is working actively with our senior schools and the unions to tackle these concerns. Although the problems are being caused by a small percentage of students, the impact is felt on all students.

“For the sake of the many hard working and well-behaved students in all our schools, we cannot tolerate disruptive and disobedient behaviour from a few.”

But she said everyone must first be clear on what the problems are and understand the reasons for them.

She added: “For this reason, we are bringing in an experienced arbitrator, someone who has successfully found solutions in other difficult situations, to mediate between the teachers, the unions, the Ministry and the students.”

And Ms Cox said there would soon be a new Code of Conduct that would underpin what action schools could take against unruly students, and parental responsibility.

She said there was now a draft code, which was being reviewed by the Ministry before being distributed to schools.

The Minister added: “Although the formal mediation process and the Code of Conduct are important, we know that some students will not respond to mediation and negotiated solutions. Unfortunately, some of the students in our schools need to be taken out of the school environment and to experience stricter discipline as well as counselling.”

She said those students could be sent to the Educational Centre, which opened last year and replaced the old CADET programme, but she admitted it only had a temporary home with few places, and said it continued to be reviewed.

“It may be that we need to consider enlarging it again and to create an alternate school for Bermuda,” she said. “This is something that we will be exploring further this year and we will put proposals forward in due course.

“I should note that though there is no budgeted item for an alternate school as an item of capital expenditure, should it be determined that we do need additional capacity to be provided and a suitable facility is identified, then we would expect that by effecting efficiencies that we will be able to proceed with its rental.

“This would be met as an expense out of current account expenditure from our existing budgetary allocation.”

But Ms Cox said it was not teachers alone who were responsible for the behaviour of students - she said parents had to play their role, also.

The Royal Gazette reported on Saturday how Ms Cox suggested new legislation may be introduced to make parents' responsibilities clearer, with consequences set out if they failed in their duties.

She said it could be something similar to the legislation that enables the Ministry to take parents to court if they repeatedly fail to ensure their children attend school properly.

Staff and parents at CedarBridge Academy, along with the Bermuda Union of Teachers, have called for Government to provide the Island with an alternative school that could take a greater number of students than the current Educational Centre.

Chairman of CedarBridge's Parent Teacher Student Association Terry Flood urged the Minister to treat the alternative school as a priority.

He said: “Teachers are having to spend so much time on discipline, it isn't fair on the majority of children who want to learn.

“We have just a few students holding the school back. We encourage the Minister to find a new building as soon as possible. It has to be a priority.”