Some parents pronounced themselves reassured after last night’s meeting about the CedarBridge crisis — but others hit out over a lack of information and planning.

Valeta Chapman, whose 15-year-old daughter Alisha attends the school, was upset to hear about plans to send the children to islands for activities next week.

“No, no, no! They will want some classroom activity, not just fun and games,” she said as she headed into the meeting.

Complaining about being kept in the dark about the issues affecting the school, she said: “Have I had information from the newspaper? Yes. From the Government? No.”

The Royal Gazette reported yesterday how a report was sent to the school more than three months ago, in which experts from the USA said it had a contaminated atmosphere containing potentially harmful fungi, mould and bacteria.

Ms Chapman said: “The newspaper report was the first I heard of it. Parents should have been made aware.”

A woman who would only give her name as Miss Davis, said her 17 year-old son attends CedarBridge.

Speaking after the meeting, she said: “My view is that Mr. Horton did not hit the issues the way he should have. He said the newspaper had it wrong.

“He was half an hour late to the meeting. That’s quite tacky. I’m not happy with the accountability. He has not said who is going to be held accountable for it. Is someone going to get fired? I think the idea of sending the students to the islands is tacky. Why can’t they go to the old Berkeley?”

Miss Davis said her son is asthmatic, and she had noticed that over the last few months he had been coming home from school with his eyes watering.

“I thought he was getting an allergy. I thought it was spores in the air. I’m not happy about what has happened.”

Regina DeShield, mother of 15-year-old student Makeda DeShield said the meeting had been “very informative”.

But she remains concerned about her daughter’s health, as she was taken ill with strep throat on October 14 and rushed to hospital for antibiotic treatment three days later. Mrs. DeShield said she was unsure if there was any link to mould issues at the school.

One father said he was reassured by information given at the meeting. “They said that the mould is common, and should not cause any prolonged health issues,” he said.

But complaining about arrangements to ship kids out to various islands for lessons next week, one grandmother of a student said: “I don’t like what’s going on. They ought to use the old Berkeley institute. The children have to catch a ferry — what happens if the weather is bad?”

One man who attended the meeting approached this newspaper afterwards to complain that Education Minister Randy Horton referred to it as “the daily rag”.

This allegedly happened while the media was refused entry to the meeting.

Expressing anger that Mr. Horton gave an interview to promote a positive message afterwards, the man complained: “Now he is going to use it for his own benefit. All people want is honesty.”

Another woman — who said she worked for Government — also approached media representatives waiting outside the meeting and tell them: “I think you should be allowed in. This is a democratic society.”