LUTSEL K'E/SNOWDRIFT
Community members in Lutsel K'e will refuse to send their children back to school this week when the building reopens after being remediated for mould.
Arctic Canada Construction superintendent Colin Hiebert shows Education Minister Alfred Moses and other officials the Lutsel K'e Dene School corridor that has been remediated of mould. - Kirsten Fenn/NNSL photo |
Tensions between the community and government officials were high on Oct. 7 when ministers and other officials visited the community for a town hall meeting meant to alleviate concerns about the safety of Lutsel K'e Dene School, which is set to reopen Tuesday.
"We don't want a bunch of talk about how it's okay," said Lutsel K'e District Education Authority chair Prairie Desjarlais.
He said classroom attendance has dropped since students were forced to study in buildings scattered across the community.
Some of those buildings do not have proper ventilation, sending children home with headaches and flushed cheeks, she said.
Out of the 68 students who were attending school before, she said 10 have stopped coming.
 | Renovations ongoing | 
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Education Minister Alfred Moses, Public Works Minister Wally Schumann, Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh MLA Tom Beaulieu, chief medical officer Dr. Andre Corriveau and several other government officials flew into the community Friday to hear the community's concerns.
Mould was found in a corridor of the school on Aug. 15 during renovations that are ongoing.
Community members are upset that the GNWT did not inform them of the situation until Sept. 7 and kept children in school until the building was shut down on Sept. 8 for air sampling.
The town hall had originally been scheduled for Sept. 30 but potential icing conditions grounded the government flight to Lutsel K'e and forced the meeting's cancellation.
"The poor planning of this retrofit of the school and poor communication has effectively destroyed the education system," said education authority chair Stephanie Poole.
Parents said they want portable classrooms or a completely new school as they believe the rest of the building could be contaminated.
Fourteen-year-old Lillyan Lockhart presented Moses with a petition to send students to Yellowknife or Fort Smith for school while theirs is being renovated.
Lockhart gathered 191 signatures in two weeks. There are only about 300 people in Lutsel K'e.
A group of six young boys who addressed the officials were led by 15-year-old Dacho Poole.
Although the government said they were there to listen to the community, Poole said they didn't seem to want to accommodate any of their wishes.
After several questions, the frustrated teenager abruptly stood up and dragged his chair to the back of the room.
"There is no need for a new school," Moses said in response to the crowd.
"We are listening to you. We're making decisions as a government," he said. "We wouldn't ask you to send students into a school if it wasn't safe."
Community members continued to insist the school is unsafe.
They noted that even if they sent their children back into the school this week, the presence of construction equipment outside the building could pose a hazard to students.
"Everybody's distressed," Desjarlais said. "We have a right to education."
Beaulieu said he is concerned that students may miss class time for an extended period of time if a solution is not found.
If the government had taken precautionary measures and brought in portable classrooms before renovations had begun on the school, it could have mitigated the current situation, he said.
