INUVIK - Fourteen-year-old Skye McLeod has fallen ill five times in the last couple of weeks she suspects as a result of being exposed to diesel fumes at Samuel Hearne Secondary School.

She's not the only one. Several students and teachers are blaming illness on the toxic fumes travelling from the super school construction which sits adjacent to SHSS. In fact the problem has gotten so bad that the high school had to close twice last week according to a school newsletter.

Samuel Hearne Secondary School students Skye McLeod, left, and Nicole Jacobson say they've gotten sick from diesel fumes that have entered SHSS from the neighbouring school construction site. - Andrew Rankin/NNSL photo

One of McLeod's good friend's was so sick that she had to see a doctor on Monday.

"You get really bad headaches," the Grade 9 student said. "Sometimes you feel really lazy and you want to sleep, you get really tired.

Her friend Nicole Jacobson, 14, who's also an SHSS student, agrees and said she's gotten sick from the fumes as well.

Roy Cole Beaufort Delta Education Council (BDEC) Superintendent of Schools, said he's "very concerned" about the situation. But he said BDEC is working closely with several government departments including Health and Social Services to find a solution. One of the primary problems, he said, is the wind often blows diesel fumes from the construction site onto the building.

"We need favourable wind," he said. "We have not had favourable winds all fall."

Most recently on the weekend, Cole said an air exchange specialist came from Yellowknife to work on the school's system. He said windows and doors on the east side of the building facing the site were sealed shut.

Still, on Monday fumes entered the building. Instead of cancelling school, Cole said staff and students did their best to deal with the problem.

"We moved students within the building, moving students from one classroom to another where there aren't odours."

On Dec. 3, school principal Roman Mahnic sent a letter out to parents titled "Diesel fumes in the school and school closures." In it he wrote the closures were necessary because "a number of staff and students could not continue to work in school during these times." He lists several ways the school has addressed the problem, including installing carbon filters on the air exchange units to mandating all school windows closed.

He also referred to a Workers' Safety and Compensation Board (WSCB) air quality test done last week in the school, the results of which currently meet "acceptable standards for health and safety." He added that WSCC has indicated that the "current levels of contaminants in our school does not pose an immediate health risk to either students or staff."

Cindy Deering's 17-year-old son Luke Deering is a Grade 12 student at SHSS. She's more concerned about her son missing valuable class time than any health hazard the fumes pose.

"He has to do public exams so he has to cover the material to be able to do well on the exams, that's my biggest concern," she said.

She said she's sure school officials would not put students at risk.

Cole said he's confident that a solution to the problem will be found soon and that another building won't have to be found to house students. But he wouldn't comment on what would happen if a solution could not be found shortly.

"We will cross that bridge when we come to it," he said. "It would be unfair for me to say anything at this time or to speculate further. It may be that we have to take further steps."