TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taoyuan’s private Paul Hsu Senior High School (PHSH) generated controversy after it dismissed its faculty and students’ concerns about allowing a business to store alcohol in an unused space on campus.

Mirror Media reported that the school’s faculty and students reported to the Union of Private School Educators in December last year that an alcohol company had set up a cooled storage room in the school’s parking lot. The union’s Chair Yu Jung-hui (尤榮輝) was cited as saying a report had also been filed with Taoyuan City Government’s Department of Education in June, but the department responded by saying it was permissible as long as shipments were transported during lunch break or after school hours.

According to the union, as an educational institution subsidized by the government, the school’s facilities should be used to benefit education or the public, while banned products such as alcohol and cigarettes must not be allowed on campus. It found the education department’s response to the issue dissatisfactory and accused the department of oversight.

Yu added that the school’s faculty alleged that the alcohol business using the space belonged to the school chair’s son. Therefore, the union asked the education department to investigate whether the school’s lease contract violated relevant regulations, whether it was based on principles of fairness, and whether it harmed the school’s interests.

Liberty Times reported that though students believed the school should be a place for studying and not allow alcohol storage on its campus, PHSH Principal Tsou Shao-Teng said the decision was made in an attempt to add a source of income for the school. He added that the school’s board of directors had approved the decision.

(Union of Private School Educators photo)

The leased space is on the basement level and was once a faculty parking lot, which later became unused space, according to Tsou. While the alcohol business’ vehicles go through the school’s front gate, they use a separate entrance to access the leased space, which is around 60-70 meters from the front gate.

Tsou was cited as saying that students usually remain in other parts of campus and should not be affected by the business’ activities. Additionally, the business is responsible for the utilities it uses on campus.

The Taoyuan City Government Department of Education responded to the issue by saying that after receiving complaints in June and December, it had informed PHSH that leasing property at private schools must be done according to regulations and with approval. As PHSH had not submitted the lease for approval, the department issued a demand for correction and decreased the school’s subsidies for 2023.

It added that as the leasing of campus space for alcohol storage does not meet the purpose of establishing a private school and impedes school development and activities. It has demanded that PHSH make improvements and remove the presence of alcohol from its campus immediately.