Balboa High School (Panama)

Balboa High School, was a public high school in the former Canal Zone, on the isthmus of Panama.

Early History

The history of Balboa High School is intimately bound to the history of the Panama Canal and the Canal Zone. Given the temporary nature of the enterprise, public secondary education for white, US employees' children was initially modest and fluid. During the first construction years, white American students from Pacific-area towns would commute to a high school in the Atlantic port of Cristobal (and later, Gatun) until separate high school facilities were made available for both areas. It was only after the completion of the Canal that a permanent school system was created and permanent buildings were erected to house Canal Zone secondary schools.

Construction of the first permanent building to house a high school in Balboa was completed in 1917. What came to be Balboa High School was not started until 1942 and completed through additions in 1948, 1949, 1963 and 1969. Prior to that, the high school was located in part of Bldg. 710, known for most of its history as Balboa Elementary School and in a temporary wooden building. For several years, starting in 1961, a junior high school was opened in Curundu to accommodate the overcrowding at Balboa Junior High School.

For most of the Canal Zone's history, Balboa High School's rival was the Atlantic-side Cristobal High School (later Cristobal Junior-Senior High School). Two other high schools in the Canal Zone, Paraiso High School and Rainbow City High School, were segregated for dependents of the Canal Zone's Afro-Antillean and South Asian employees. Desegregation of these schools began in 1975 and was completed in 1979, at the same time as the Canal Zone's abolition.

Controversy

In January 1964, Balboa High School was the scene of a controversial confrontation between high school students from Panama's Instituto Nacional and groups of students and parents from Balboa High School. The controversial removal by Canal Zone authorities of the U.S. flag from Balboa High School was followed by a forceful attempt by nationalist Panamanian students to fly the Panamanian flag in the high school and other Canal Zone public buildings. Balboa High School students' confrontation with the Instituto's organized group went from minor scuffle to international incident when the Panamanian students returned to Panama City, claiming that the American students had torn the Panamanian flag intended for their flagpole.

The ensuing violent reaction by Panamanians at the border with the Canal Zone resulted in an overwhelmed Canal Zone Police calling for support from U.S. military forces stationed in and around Balboa. The ensuing bloodshed, fueled by political agitators in Panama, complicated by rampant gunfire from both sides, and aided by inaction by Panamanian police forces, led the government of Panama to break off diplomatic relations with Washington, polarized Latin American governments to pressure the United States government over the Panama Canal, and created a pantheon of Panamanian martyrs revered for their struggle to assume sovereignty over the Panama Canal.

Late History

With the abolition of the Canal Zone in 1979, Balboa High School, like the rest of the Canal Zone Schools system, came under the Department of Defense Dependents Schools. Over the next two decades, the population of American Canal Zone dependents decreased as the population of the Canal Zone itself changed. Aside from thousands of American dependents of the Panama Canal Company (later Panama Canal Commission), Canal Zone Government and U.S. armed forces, Balboa High School was also the alma mater of many of Panama's business and political elite.

During the December 1989 "Operation Just Cause," which removed General Manuel Noriega from power and ended Panama's 21-year military dictatorship, the premises of Balboa High School were temporarily used by the US Armed Forces to house civilians displaced from Panama City's El Chorrillo neighborhood who were displaced by the fires resulting from the attack on the Panamanian Defense Forces' headquarters.

Balboa High School closed in 1999 in anticipation for the handover of the Panama Canal to the Republic of Panama, the removal of final U.S. forces from the isthmus and the closure of the DoDDS Panama. Over the years thousands of Americans and Panamanians graduated from Balboa High School. They included William Ford, vice president of Panama and Gustavo A. Mellander, noted historian and university administrator. The BHS campus today is used as a training center by the Panama Canal Authority.