After summer evacuation, northern students ready to hit the books

Hundreds of young wildfire-evacuees will be reunited with their peers and teachers on Sept. 29 for a belated, albeit welcome, first day of school on familiar campuses across northern Manitoba.

Frontier School Division plans to officially launch 2025-26 in South Indian Lake, Leaf Rapids and Lynn Lake before the end of the month.

Chief superintendent Tyson MacGillivray said he and his colleagues are looking forward to “opening day,” following months of emergency management and uncertainty.

Approximately 450 students are currently unable to attend regular classes at West Lynn Heights School (Lynn Lake), Leaf Rapids Education Centre (Leaf Rapids) and Thunderbird School (South Indian Lake).

These families spent the bulk of the summer break in Winnipeg, Brandon and other evacuee hot spots as a result of raging wildfires and related damage to electrical infrastructure.

Their imminent return is part of the last wave of homecomings following the worst wildfire season on record in the past 30 years in Manitoba.

Hydro workers had completed repairs and power restorations in all three communities in northwestern Manitoba by Sept. 11.

Pukatawagan, also known as Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, was brought back online Wednesday; all Granville-area residents are expected to have their power restored within the next 10 days.

Grade 12 student Tasha Napoakesik set her Friday alarm for 7:30 a.m. to help her parents pack their vehicle to drive back to Lynn Lake.

She compared how she was feeling on Thursday to a child’s excitement on Christmas Eve.

“I’ve been feeling homesick for the entirety of the summer,” the 17-year-old said. “I’m so excited to see my dogs, my (fur) babies, and just be home.”

The teen said she was hopeful that her senior year would be “normal.” The start was anything but, as she found herself moving from hotel to hotel with other evacuees.

Tasha has been babysitting her 10-year-old niece throughout September. The duo has been keeping busy by going for walks, swimming and lounging, she said, noting she’s been unable to attend school so far this year.

City school divisions have provided staffing and educational material to support displaced students upon request.

Winnipeg’s Sargent Park School recently hosted 20 learners from South Indian Lake. Four public school campuses in Brandon registered a combined 74 evacuees during back-to-school season.

Temporary visitors’ participation has dwindled in recent days in response to return plans being unveiled.

Frontier’s leader said educators did “everything in their power” to engage evacuees experiencing culture shock and other challenges.

The division, the largest in Manitoba in terms of geography, runs nursery-to-Grade 12 in remote and sparsely populated communities.

“The change in lifestyle, change in location, change from a very slow-paced northern Manitoba to a very fast-paced Winnipeg meant not all parents felt this was something they wanted to engage with,” the superintendent said.

Children were not mandated to attend school this month if they were evacuated. Uptake was mixed, as per Frontier’s experience.

MacGillivray noted the results of a late summer survey of Leaf Rapids families “99 per cent” of them had no intention of registering their children in a new school on a temporary basis, he recalled.

In response, Frontier staff members set-up satellite classrooms in hotel meeting rooms.

Superintendent Mathew Gustafson said his Brandon-based team adjusted bus routes and space to give students from the north the most normal back-to-school experience possible.

Elementary-aged students were organized into the cohorts that will meet upon returning to Lynn Lake so they were surrounded by friends, Gustafson said. “Every transition that a student undergoes has an impact on student achievement,” he added.

Education Minister Tracy Schmidt noted that her department established its own emergency management office earlier this year.

Officials will review the K-12 system’s response to the wildfires as all Manitoba students get settled into the 2025-26 year, Schmidt said.

The minister urged division leaders to keep track of expenses related to supporting evacuees.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca