Portable classrooms being sourced for Berens River in wake of school fire

Students could be back in classrooms as early as next week, after a fire that destroyed Berens River First Nation’s only school.

The community, located about 270 kilometres north of Winnipeg, along the eastern shores of Lake Winnipeg, said it will need 26 or 27 portable classroom units to accommodate 392 displaced students and staff.

Superintendent Tyson MacGilivary said, depending on how long it takes to procure the units, they could be delivered and students could be using them by the end of next week. The units are being ordered from vendors across the country.

Until that time, Frontier School Division has secured several locations in the community to rotate students through, including: a hall, community council building, existing adult education centre, church and Berens River band office.

“Students are resilient. Just really looking forward to having students back in a resemblance of a classroom for them to engage in learning very shortly is our top priority,” MacGilivary said on Friday.

An electrical fire sparked in a closed crawlspace ripped through the kindergarten-to-Grade 9 school on Tuesday. Preliminary insurance assessments peg the total loss at approximately $35 million.

Insurance will cover some of the cost to replace school furniture and supplies, but Berens River leadership says the money will not be enough. It is now soliciting donations from the public to help.

“Community members are encouraged to support any fundraising initiatives that may be launched, as all efforts will be directed solely toward supporting our youth’s education and academic success,” said an update from the First Nation posted to social media.

The University of Winnipeg’s athletic department announced there would be a bin set up at its Wesmen men’s and women’s volleyball games Friday night to accept donations of school supplies.

Indigenous Services Canada could not accommodate a request for information on funding for the community made Friday afternoon.

A statement from Manitoba Education Minister Tracy Schmidt said the province is working with Ottawa and Berens River to help secure portable classrooms, arrange their transportation and prepare the site for arrival and installation.

The community’s arena burned down in a fire just over a year ago. The since-cleared site is the intended spot for the portable classrooms.

A night guard noticed smoke at the school at approximately 3 a.m., by which time the fire had already spread into the northeast wing, the First Nation said in its online update.

The school was empty at the time. No injuries have been reported.

Frontier School Division was in the process of a feasibility study for a new school in the community. Based on estimates, the new school would need to hold upwards of 700 students and become a nursery-to-Grade 12 institution. The goal was to have a new school built in the next three or four years, at a cost of $100 million.

Indigenous Services Canada would foot the majority of the bill for the new school, MacGilivary said.

A meeting will be held on Monday at 1 p.m. at the Berens River band hall for residents to ask division representatives and community leadership questions about the plans to get students back into the classroom.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca