Flood-damaged Sydney school set to reopen despite incomplete repairs
Parents of students returning to Brookland Elementary School in Sydney, N.S., after March break toured the building Tuesday and emerged with mixed feelings.
The entire lower level of the school was extensively damaged during the Thanksgiving flood and renovations are not yet complete.
Its 350 students have been attending two nearby schools while renovations are underway.
The Cape Breton-Victoria County Regional School Board said enough work has been done to allow the children to return but reconstruction won't be completed until September.
In the meantime, students will be in the upper level of the school which has been entirely converted into classrooms.
'Not satisfied'
"We had mud, drywall soaked with water. Today, what we have is a building that has been completely cleaned and now at a state ready for reconstruction," said Paul Oldford, director of operation services for the school board.
"The art room, the music room, there's a seminar room next to the library — those spaces will become classrooms to enable our children [to] come back to their school for the remainder of this school year."
Parent Matthew Jacob questioned that decision Tuesday
"I am not satisfied [but] you got to do what you got to do, I guess," he said.
"I would sooner everything would be done. I can't see why they can't wait. We are trucking them back and forth to other schools now, why don't we wait until next year when it's finished?"
'I think everything is going to go well'
Barb VanDerwyst's said her daughter is looking forward to returning to Brookland.
"She is very excited to get back to school. It's been quite the transition, but it's good. We are excited," she said.
"It seems pretty good, I think everything is going to go well," she said following the tour.
The school board said it will cost more than $1.5 million to repair the school.
