PARENTS have reacted with anger at the ongoing problems with the school's water supply.
Heather Morris, whose daughter Elle has just left the school after completing her exams, said she was "shocked" at the situation at West Exe and the other city secondary schools, which were only built a little over six years ago under a Private Finance Initiative (PFI).
The deal meant that a private company could come in and build the new school and also run all their services for 25 years, in return for a hefty annual fee from the county council.
The schools opened late and have been beset with problems ever since.
At West Exe, the discovery of legionella bacteria in the water supply is the most serious problem. Although legionella is a naturally occurring bacteria, it can cause illnesses and in extreme cases, if left untreated, lead to the potentially fatal Legionnaires' disease.
All efforts to eradicate the bacteria at West Exe have so far proved unsuccessful.
Mrs Morris, who a city councillor representing Cowick, was a parent governor at the school until recently.
She said governors placed a lot of trust in Devon County Council, as the education authority, in sorting out the problems.
And the local authority in turn put a lot of trust in Carillion as its main contractor.
But she said the company's inability to rectify the ongoing water problems cast a shadow over the future involvement of Carillion.
She said: "I understand that the contract is up for renewal in two years' time, and it is something Devon County Council needs to look at.
"Shocking is the only word I can use to describe the situation. I just hope that the county council can continue to put pressure on the company to finally get the matter resolved.
"I know that the Exeter county councillors have all been working very hard on this issue."
Mrs Morris said lessons should be learned from the problems, and she questioned whether private companies should have had such a key role in education in the first place.
"My belief is that private companies shouldn't be running services in schools," she said.
"They shouldn't be involved to that extent in education."
In a letter to parents before the school holidays, headteacher Vicki Carah said: "As you are aware, we have, for some months now, had issues with our water supply. While Carillion have worked hard to minimise these, and Devon County Council have been happy that the school has been able to function safely throughout this time, the issues have not been resolved and the summer holiday offers an opportunity to carry out major works to rectify the problem fully."