Classes resume for all grades following Kugaaruk school fire

Class is back in session for all 320 students in Kugaaruk Monday, five weeks after a fire destroyed the hamlet's only school.

Preschool and kindergarten classes resumed in temporary locations the week after the March 1 fire. So did classes for students in Grades 10 to 12.

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But principal Jerry Maciuk says it's taken over a month to find spots for the rest of the students, due to safety and sanitation codes.

"All staff members, they are ready to go," he told CBC on Thursday. "We are anticipating this moment very impatiently."

Six portable classrooms are expected to arrive in the community bythe fall, ahead of the next school year, said Education Minister Paul Quassa. Construction of a new school is also expected to start this fall, and is slated to open in 2019.

Quassa said he has great confidence in the local district education authority to ensure the students will make up for the days they had no classes.

For Maciuk, the most important thing now is to make sure the eight students in Grade 12 graduate this year.

• PHOTOS |After the fire: Kugaaruk attempts to rebound after losing only school