Grassy Plains students are heading back to class sooner than expected following progress on some of the wildfires located within the Northwest Fire Centre.
The Evacuation Order on the south side of Grassy Plains was downgraded to an alert on Monday, which led to that decision.
“So because the order changed, we were able to get staff in there right away on Tuesday, we had a fair bit to do because there was this order zone where nobody could go, folks are working hard to get the school ready and we are going to have it ready by Friday (September 7th),” said Manu Madhok, Director of Instruction.
The school district previously stated the year would begin on September 17th due to the wildfire activity.
Students will also be able to get class by taking the bus with a couple of routes available.
“There is one normal bus route on the south side that is running (Route 602 Grassy – Uncha) and we know we have some families that are in Burns Lake because they can’t get back home and so our transportation manager is creating a special bus route to get those kids over the ferry and then to school and back home.”
This situation was one a unique for SD 91 to go through and one they hope doesn’t get repeated anytime soon.
“I am hoping this continues to be unique as this isn’t something we want to see happen again, we watched our friends and neighbors in the Chilcotin go through this last year so they were helpful in helping us navigate what we had to do but it was stressful for many of our families and kids who had to leave their homes and communities this summer.”
On Tuesday, the College of New Caledonia campus in Fort Saint James re-opened to class as well as those within School District 91.