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Lack of electricity ignites balancing act in Belle Castle - Seaside Primary’s principal adds spark to community as hurricane damage keeps Portland schools in the dark
November 17, 2025
Schools in Belle Castle, Portland, remain trapped in instability weeks after Hurricane Melissa, with low voltage, darkness and extreme heat, disrupting classes and threatening student safety.
At Seaside Primary, where devices have been burning out one after the other, principal Aldi Lewis said the school is "at breaking point".
"What we are not seeing in this area is a team visiting, trying to figure out what was going to happen," Lewis told THE STAR. "I have spoken to contractors, I have made calls, and all the focus seems to be on the western side of the country."
UNSTABLE ELECTRICITY
Inside Seaside Primary, classroom lights flicker weakly, fans barely turn, and teachers struggle to use basic equipment as the unstable supply causes computers and projectors to fail. Low voltage, he explained, can cause overheating and burnout of sensitive electronics, conditions that pose a risk to children and staff alike.
"We thought everything was okay, and when we started using these things, they shut off and not turning back on," he said, noting that even after contractors visited, the problem remained unsolved.
"My biggest concern is the students' safety, low voltage can mean a lot of things."
The situation is not unique to his institution. Four schools in the area, Seaside Primary, Seaside Basic, Belle Castle Primary, and Happy Grove High are still without reliable electricity.
Some surrounding communities have no cell service at all.
ABANDON CLASSROOM TEACHING
The lack of stable supply has forced Belle Castle Primary to abandon regular classroom teaching altogether. Students are now learning under corridors and trees and their principal dismisses school early because the rooms are simply too dark and too hot to accommodate children.
Lewis said his school does not have that option.
"I have 31 children in one class alone. How do I put 220 children outside? In the sun?" he opined.
"And to be in the classroom and not have light it is dark. That's 30-plus little ones in a box. That's not conducive. How are they going to learn?"
COMMUNITY LIFELINE
Even with the strain, he has chosen to turn the school into a small lifeline for the community. Many families across eastern Portland still have no electricity at home, and Lewis has opened Seaside Primary on Sundays to parents who need to press their children's uniforms.
"What we did was send out a message to parents and say, 'Hey, if you would like to come and iron with us, you can do so'," he shared. "And it's not just specific to my students' parents. I open it to anybody. In times like these, you can't be specific if you want to help, you just help."
His frustration sits against the backdrop of wider national progress. JPS has reported rapid restoration in several parishes, more than 95 per cent of customers in Kingston & St Andrew, St Catherine and St Thomas have already been reconnected, and the company expects St Ann, Clarendon and Manchester to reach 75 per cent restoration the first week of December.
LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES
Yet, despite these milestones, many pockets of eastern Portland are still dealing with unstable supply, and Lewis fears that the imbalance in attention could have long-term consequences for the island.
"I don't feel like this section of the country has gone back to that stability just yet," he told THE STAR. "If the efforts gone completely that side and we're not getting here, the entire country will be unstable."
For him, the priority is ensuring that schools remain safe, functional spaces, something he believes is increasingly at risk. He worries that without urgent action, classrooms will become places children simply endure rather than spaces where they can learn.
"It will be like prison, detention centres, holding centres for children," he said. "You should open school with a purpose and aim to get something done. I genuinely hope something changes."
