Students at a Sinaloa elementary school have a new accessory for their school uniforms: hard hats.

Parents of children who attend the school in Palos Blancos, Guasave, are sending their kids to school wearing hard hats for fear that the roof might collapse.

The school principal confirmed the deterioration of the school building, telling the newspaper El Universal that it was built “some 70 years ago” and is not “in the best condition.”

Parents have chipped in to help with minor repairs but the major work needed to renew the roof is beyond their means.

Faculty and parents have filed requests for repairs with municipal authorities and the state educational infrastructure institute, but have yet to obtain a formal response or commitment from them.

The decision to dress students in hard hats and other protective headgear was taken on Monday. A group of mothers was tidying up a classroom when a large piece of concrete fell.

“This has been happening for some time, but is now happening more often. We had decided to keep [the children] from going to school, but that’s not fair,” said Elva Socorro Ojeda López, mother of a third and a fourth-grader.

Another mother, Guadalupe Abigail Olivas, told El Universal that not all kids are wearing protection, “but we are going to get it for them, because this is really a threat.”

Source: El Universal (sp)