Francophone school in Port au Port shut down over safety worries

Newfoundland and Labrador's French school board has closed aschool on the Port au Port Peninsula after an engineering report sounded alarm bells about the state of the building's structural integrity, warned of potential for collapse,and underscored safety risks to its staff and students.

"The cole Notre Dame du Cap structure is in a state of progressive failure," stated the report, prepared by Wood Environment and Infrastructure Solutions for the Department of Transportation and Works.

"Further occupancy of this building should be terminated as soon as possible. The safety of the occupants is currently being seriously jeopardized through continued use of the building," the report concluded.

The school board had already temporarily shut the school in Cape St. George due to plumbing issues in the days prior to the March 15 release of the report, whichsealed the building's fatefor at leastthe rest of the school year.

"This came as a shock to the government, as well as the school board," said Kim Christianson, the director of education for theConseil scolaire francophone provincial de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador.

"We definitely would not have let children, students, staff, parentscirculate or continue on a day-to-day basis in the school."

However, the school had been operating since staff alerted the school board to potential problems on February 10, with the Department of Transportation and Works then sending out anengineering firm to investigate on February 15.

Students will now finish out the school year at a temporary set up based out of Our Lady of the Cape School, the English school across the street in Cape St. George.

Potentials for collapse

First built in 1976 and later turned into a school, Notre Dame du Cap currentlyhas 37 francophone students from kindergarten to Grade 8, along with11 staff.

Photos included in the report detail deteriorating conditions: cracking floor tiles, cracks running down school walls like ripped seams, curling paint and yawning gaps between baseboards and floors.

The engineering report notedthe current occupants of the school had been watching part of the building's ground floor shiftdownward at an increasing pace.

"This movement, or settlement, has apparently been increasingly noticeable over the last eightto 10 months," said the report.

The report noted that similar concerns about the building had been raised in 2013.At thattime a different engineering company completed an assessment, which concluded there were "no imminent safety concerns," and any settlement issues should be only continue to be seen in small amounts.

This movement, or settlement, has apparently been increasingly noticeable over the last eightto 10 months.- Woods engineering report

"It is our professional opinion, therefore, that there are no structural integrity problems," said the 2013 report from Atlantic Engineering Consultants.

But the 2019 assessment detailed a myriad of structural problems, from load bearing walls no longer being "properly or safely supported," to water damage and corrosion that has weakened other support systems. The report details possible scenarios for the building to collapse, particularly on its second floor.

The report also notes Notre Dame du Cap's foundations and insulationare not sufficient towithstand frost heave cycles, which again could have "a serious consequence" on load-bearing walls.

While Christianson wasn't in place decades agowhen Notre Dame du Cap took over the building, "the school board had been told it was a temporary school, and 40 years later, it's still the school," she told CBC News.

'Nobody knows' future of the building

The report lists numerous additional engineering steps required to determine the extent and costs of repairs needed for the school, to give the Department of Transportation andWorks the information to "make a final decision about what should be done with the building."

While the report saidstaff can enter the school to retrieve necessary furniture and materials, it even warns against stacking or stockpiling any such items on the building's second floor.

• French students in Cape St. George may move to English school

Staff have been in and out of the building all weekend, said Christianson, transferring the necessary equipment to Our Lady of the Cape.

"Just to clarify,Notre Dame du Cap is not closing, it's only the infrastructure of the building that is," she said, adding the English building has sufficient space to host both French and English schools.

Some further engineering tests require warmer weather, and Christianson said until those tests are done it's impossible to put timelines on repairs, or if that's even feasible.

"At this time, we're not in a position to determine that. Nobody knows," she said.

The board did hold a community meeting with parents on March 15, prior to deciding to close Notre Dame du Cap for the remainder of the 2018-19 school year.

"I think that it's a very emotional situation, because this building was the hub ... a francophone building [and] school for the community," said Christianson.

"I think people are quite shocked and surprised, and understood this was a report that needs to be followed through."

The French school board previously floated the idea of combining the anglophone and francophone schools in Cape St. George in November 2017, as one way to solve the deteriorating conditions of the Notre Dame du Cap's gymnasium, which requiredabout $500,000 in repairs.

That idea was parked after community concerns, and most of the repairs carried out, with the gymnasium renovations completed at the beginning of 2019, said Christianson.

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