School shut down due to unpleasant odour

Sep 20, 2019 | 12:44 PM

A health concern has led to the temporary closure of a school in Sicamous.

School District 83 says on the advice of Interior Health, and to ensure the health and safety of students and staff, operations at Parkview Elementary have been suspended until further notice, and the students will be moved to other schools.

“We apologize for any inconvenience and anxiety that these changes will cause our students and parents, and we thank you for your patience as we work through this challenge,” said Superintendent of Schools/CEO Peter Jory.

Jory said over the past two weeks there has been an unpleasant and musty odour in the west wing of the school.

“School and district staff as well as outside consultants have worked hard to locate the source, but at this point the cause is still unknown. Many steps were taken to protect students and staff from the odour, including moving all operations to the east wing of the school with the west wing being closed and fitted with a vapour barrier and positive air pressure used to keep the smell out. But, with still no known cause, it was determined it would be best to suspend activities at the school.”

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Jory added the investigation will also continue at Parkview itself to try to determine the cause of the problem.

“Samples have been taken from the walls and the district is awaiting results.”

Parkview’s class groups will be kept together intact and will be in their temporary location by Wednesday, September 25.

Letters have gone home to all affected parents and SD83 will be holding a meeting with parents on Monday, September 23 at 7 p.m. at Eagle River Secondary to answer any questions or concerns.

Parkview parents are being asked to keep their children home on Monday, September 23 and Tuesday, September 24 as classrooms are packed up and moved to the new locations.

The youngest students will stay closest to home and the other five divisions will be transported to the next closest schools with available space.

The plan is as follows:

• Move 4 K-2 divisions to Eagle River Secondary
• Move 2 Gr. 2-3 divisions to North Canoe
• Move 3 Gr. 4-6 divisions to South Canoe

by Corey Fischer