Fort Norman (Mar 29/04) - The territorial government plans to spend roughly $12 million over three years to replace the aging Chief Albert Wright school but that may not be soon enough, says principal Wayne Dawe.

The government will spend $1.6 million this year for planning and site preparation. A new school is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2007.

But Dawe said word that Education Minister Charles Dent won't send portable classrooms to ease overcrowding in the interim may not sit well with parents. Many of them threatened to pull their children from the school last November because of the overcrowding and poor ventilation.

"We want a portable or portables in order to do good delivery of the curriculum, but it's not going to happen if it has to come out of this $1.6 million," said Dawe.

"That's what we've been told. When you start doing things like that, people are going to wonder how sincere you are."

School too small

While ventilation in the school has improved since last year, numerous problems remain, said Dawe.

The single-storey building has more than 160 students crammed into seven classrooms. School assemblies are held in the hallway.

An earthquake last fall damaged the school's already weak foundation, opening cracks along the walls; the doors outside won't open or close properly; and classrooms are either too hot or too cold -- depending on where you are in the school, said Dawe.

"When it's cold we go into the kitchen to eat our lunch." said Dawe.

"We've got two oven doors open at the same time."

Sahtu MLA Norman Yakeleya toured the school recently, and believes a three-year wait without additional portables may be too long.

He, too, is worried parents may simply stop sending their kids to school.

"This government says it's safe enough, but you have to convince the community it's safe," said Yakeleya.

"Parents have that right (to pull their children) and I support them 100 per cent."

In the legislative assembly last Tuesday, Dent said an inspection before Christmas found carbon dioxide levels in the school all within the safety range. He said his department doesn't have any portables to send to Tulita.

"What we're going to do is concentrate on a bigger and better school rather than putting a portable in there, and make sure that we are all still able to deliver the program over the course of the next three years," said Dent.

He said he plans to hold community consultations in Tulita sometime this spring.