Flin Flon’s school year comes to disappointing end for graduating evacuees

Homesick evacuees from the Flin Flon area were dealt another blow Monday when they learned an out-of-control forest fire had cancelled the rest of the school year in northwestern Manitoba.

The Flin Flon School Division shut down three weeks ago when the region was put under a mandatory evacuation order.

Citing “continued uncertainty,” superintendent Tammy Ballantyne has announced that the two high schools and two elementary schools will not be reopening to properly end the 2024-2025 calendar.

“We are deeply sorry that our graduates will not be celebrated as we had planned. We will be celebrating our graduates and all of their accomplishments at a later date,” Ballantyne wrote in an open letter to families.

Final grades will reflect student work up to the date of the mandatory evacuations that took place May 28.

Similarly, high-schoolers who were on track to receive their credits ahead of the mass exodus will obtain them. Teenagers who were struggling will be eligible to retake courses online through InformNet, Manitoba’s virtual Grade 9-12 school, at no charge.

“It’s really disappointing and frustrating that I know grad won’t be the same, as much as we want it to be,” said Cassidy Alexander, a member of the Class of 2025 at Hapnot Collegiate.

The Grade 12 student said these feelings are all too familiar; COVID-19 disruptions prompted her elementary school to cancel her Grade 8 convocation in 2021.

This time around, the future of her house, her friends’ houses and her dad’s business are top of mind rather than a virus, said the 18-year-old, who is seeking refuge in Winnipeg with her immediate family.

A wildfire located near the Flin Flon, whose population is roughly 5,000, is about 370,780 hectares — about seven Winnipegs — in size. It remains the largest out-of-control fire in the province, as per the Manitoba government’s latest emergency bulletin.

Alexander said she’s been trying to look at the positives — among them, the family dog is safe — but it’s difficult to scroll on social media and see friends from Winnipeg and The Pas participating in “senior skip day” and other rites of passage for graduating students.

Students from Hapnot, as well as École McIsaac School, Ruth Betts Community School and Many Faces Educational Centre, have been assured that they will be able to retrieve personal belongings when it’s safe to do so.

“It’s really disappointing and frustrating that I know grad won’t be the same, as much as we want it to be”–Cassidy Alexander

Senior administration indicated Monday that teachers will need time to complete report cards when the wildfire threats subside, but they will eventually be made available for pickup at the board office.

Jamie Smalley, a father of two young children, said he’s relieved to have some closure, even if it’s not an ideal ending to June.

Creighton Community School, located just east of the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border — eight kilometres from McIsaac, where his children just wrapped up Grades 1 and 3 — made a similar announcement on June 7.

“The kids are treating it like an early start to a summer vacation, so their mindset is a lot better than mine and my wife’s,” said Smalley, who has found temporary accommodation in Good Spirit Lake Provincial Park, thanks to a generous friend with an empty residence.

He noted there will be much work to do when they return, from clearing out rotting food in their fridge to cutting a lawn that, based on their home security camera footage, appears to be knee high.

At the same time, he said he’s grateful it is looking like they will have a residence to return to, because that was not at all certain earlier this month.

Teacher Christine Williams, who is currently staying with a friend in Portage la Prairie, echoed those comments as she processed the abrupt end to the school year.

Williams said she and all her colleagues are “ready to go home.”

The Grade 1 teacher said she wishes she could give each of her students a hug and proper goodbye, “and do all the fun stuff that June entails.”

Flin Flon’s superintendent acknowledged the “strength and resilience” of students and staff members in her memo Monday.

Alexander said she is grateful the hot-pink gown she bought for graduation is safe in Winnipeg and there will be “something” to mark the end of a public school experience plagued by disruption.

Some of her peers had to leave their dresses at a tailor in Flin Flin or could not squeeze them into their evacuation luggage, she noted.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca