Kamloops-Thompson School district superintendent Alison Sidow speaks at a news conference, Sept. 9, 2019.

(KAREN EDWARDS / iNFOnews.ca)

KAMLOOPS - After an intense fire displaced more than 350 students and 40 staff members at a Kamloops elementary school last week, Kamloops-Thompson School District officials have announced a plan for the future.

At a news conference today, Sept. 9, school district officials said they will be moving the displaced Parkcrest students to George Hilliard Elementary school.

The school is located approximately two kilometres from Parkcrest on Holt Street.

The announcement comes after Parkcrest Elementary School was left severely damaged by a fire that ignited after 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 5.

The school district held two information meetings with parents and staff of Parkcrest Elementary School last night, Sept. 8 to advise families and staff members of the plan.

“We wanted to make sure staff and parents knew first,” Diana Skoglund, communications officer with the Kamloops-Thompson School District said.

Students will be back in classrooms starting Sept. 16, according to superintendent Alison Sidow.

The George Hilliard Elementary School currently houses the Twin Rivers Education Centre and Four Directions School.

Sidow says students and staff of the Four Directions program will be relocated to the Happyvale Elementary Building. Currently, this is where the Big Little Science Centre is located. Sidow says the science centre will be relocated but the location is yet to be confirmed.

Until the relocation of the science centre is complete, Sidow says United Way has offered a space on Tranquille Road for the students and staff of Four Directions for a temporary arrangement.

The Twin Rivers Education Centre students and staff will be relocated to NorthKam Senior Secondary School, making George Hilliard Elementary school available for students of Parkcrest.

Overall, Sidow says parents were extremely happy their kids won’t be going too far to finish the school year or be split up from their teachers or friends.

Due to the shuffling, and since most schools within the district are already at full capacity, the board will be ordering 12 portables to NorthKam to accomdate the students coming from Twin Rivers Education Centre.

Sidow says the students of Twin Rivers Education Centre will have their own discrete classes. 

At a news conference last week, the board announced it could take up to two years to rebuild Parkcrest Elementary School and a replacement value is estimated at $18 to 20 million.

The board's secretary treasurer, Kelvin Stretch, said last week Parkcrest Elementary School did not have a sprinkler system but due to the severity of the fire, having one in place wouldn't have made a difference.  There are 19 other schools that currently do not have sprinkler systems either, he said.

For past stories on the Parkcrest Elementary School fire go here.

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News from © iNFOnews, 2019