A lawyer last night accused the Ministry of Education of refusing to communicate directly with teachers made sick by mould at CedarBridge Academy.

Paul Harshaw, who is representing two teachers forced to stop work at the Island's largest public school because of illness, told : "They (the Ministry) don't care. All they care about is getting over a public relations disaster. They do not care one iota about those teachers or at least that's all we can conclude by the fact that they have been dead silent on this issue."

His criticism came as it was revealed that there were concerns about the air quality at a second school ? Dellwood Middle ? and that work had to be carried out there during the mid-term break.

CedarBridge Academy, which has more than 850 students, closed suddenly on November 1 because of mould contamination and is likely to remain shut until the end of the year.

Alternative schooling is due to start at Bermuda College and the old Berkeley Institute tomorrow. A report on ZBM television news last night claimed that a staff member at Dellwood had now been taken ill. A Government spokesman said that the school had been examined as part of air quality checks due to be carried out at every public school. He said: "This schedule of checking has already begun at Dellwood Middle School where concerns were expressed about the air quality in the administrative block.

"Preventative measures and some mitigation work were undertaken at Dellwood Middle School over the mid-term holiday. Checks and any necessary remedial work will continue at Dellwood before moving on to other schools."

Meanwhile, Mr. Harshaw blasted the Ministry for its handling of the mould crisis and its treatment of sick teachers. He said he had written to the Ministry on a number of occasions since September 5 but had received no response. He said two other teachers not represented by him had told him a similar story.

"I have heard absolutely nothing from the Ministry," he said. "They are refusing to talk to me. They are not responding to any of the affected teachers in general.

"They are giving out general information to the press and the union and the teachers as a whole. But they are not addressing the teachers that were unable to go to work at CedarBridge when it was still open."

He added: "I can only conclude that they are terribly afraid of the liability they must face in the future. Their refusal to communicate with their own employees over what appear to be admittedly unsafe working conditions can only cause matters to escalate."

He claimed the Government should have requested detailed information from affected teachers on their symptoms and diagnosis in order to ensure the clean-up operation tackles the mould making staff sick.

And he said he would be advising his clients not to return to the CedarBridge building to work without written assurances from the Ministry about its safety. "Unless and until Government can satisfy us that it has taken the appropriate measures to clear the building and make it reasonably safe then the teachers that I represent will not be going back."

Mr. Harshaw said the Ministry had offered to reimburse teachers' medical costs on an basis i.e. without acknowledging any legal responsibility.

A CedarBridge teacher ? who asked not to be named ? said she had seen a letter to the Bermuda Union of Teachers making such an offer. The union could not be contacted yesterday and the Ministry did not respond to a request for comment on Mr. Harshaw's remarks.

The Government spokesman did say that an orientation for students and staff at Berkeley and the college yesterday "appeared to have gone well". The spokesman did not answer a question about how many teachers and pupils attended but said teachers were "upbeat and positive".

The anonymous teacher said the old Berkeley building had been cleaned and teachers' fears about its condition had been allayed. "It was acceptable," she said. But she agreed with Mr. Harshaw that the Ministry and the school's attitude to ill teachers had been disappointing. " Although most of us teachers are getting physically better, emotionally it's crazy," she said. "I'm going to seek legal advice. All the Ministry has