West Island students face makeup days for closures
Schools slowly reopen throughout week as region’s flooding emergency subsides
It’s looking like a classic case of good news/bad news for West Island students whose classes have been cancelled due to historic flooding this week.
The good news is that none of the schools have sustained major water damage. Also, kids at 29 schools and learning institutions got Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off because of road closures and other flooding-related complications.
The bad news is students might have to pay for those days off by attending extra classes.
“Right now our priority is dealing with the crisis hour by hour but afterwards, we’ll have to think about how to make up for those lost days,” said Gina Guillemette, spokesperson for the Commission Scolaire Marguerite Bourgeoys. “We’re obliged to hold a certain number of teaching days. So, we’ll have to see how we meet those obligations. But for now we’re focused on the crisis.”
There were still 16 schools, one specialized school and an adult education centre closed within the Marguerite Bourgeoys network Wednesday. Only five elementary schools, one high school and an adult education centre will remain closed Thursday.
They are: Jacques-Bizard, Jonathan-Wilson and Sainte-Geneviève Ouest in the Île Bizard area. The Murielle-Dumont and Saint Gérard elementary schools as well as École Secondaire du SAS remain closed in Pierrefonds. The Jeanne Sauvé adult education centre is also closed Thursday.
The École du Bois-de-Liesse and its adjacent daycare are open Thursday, but without busing service.
Meanwhile, at the Commission scolaire des Trois-Lacs, the Cité-des-Jeunes high school in Vaudreuil is still closed Thursday. The Paul-Gérin-Lajoie education centre and centre des Belles-Rive also remain closed.
“Our staff has been working long days to make sure that our buildings in the flooded areas stay dry and they’ve done a tremendous job,” said Collette Frapier, a spokesperson for the school board. “We’re meeting with municipal authorities to stay on top of things.”
Only three schools at the Lester B. Pearson School Board won’t open Thursday: Terry Fox Elementary, Pierrefonds Comprehensive High School and the West Island Career Centre.
Like most people in the area, Guillemette says the administrators at Marguerite Bourgeoys school board were astounded at how quickly the flooding escalated last weekend.
“When it became clear things would take a turn, last weekend, we had to start making decisions about what we would close and what we wouldn’t,” she said. “It was early mornings and late nights, working into the weekend to coordinate with the authorities and parents.
“When we’ll reopen, we might widen our daycare hours to help ease traffic and we’re looking at other measures.
“So that takes a bit of organization on our part, we’ve even had principals show up at school so that the people who haven’t seen the news or don’t know it’s closed are there to make sure no one takes their children to school during the flooding.”