Attawapiskat First Nation school to reopen after flood

A brand new elementary school shuttered by flooding in a troubled indigenous community in Ontario will be reopening for business next week.

The $30 million school on the Attawapiskat First Nation flooded in early January due to what band council members described as a malfunctioning sprinkler system.

The school was opened with much fanfare in 2014, putting an end to a 14-year period in which the community’s roughly 400 elementary-age students were being taught in portable classrooms.

January’s flood caused considerable damage to the first floor of the school and cancelled classes for about six weeks.

But James Wesley of the Attawapiskat First Nation Education Authority says repairs are complete and class will be back in session as of Feb. 28.

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He declined to offer any additional comments on the situation.

Attawapiskat has long occupied headlines for the rash of social problems plaguing the community on the shores of James Bay.

The community has grappled with a long-term housing shortage for years, as well as a lack of educational facilities.

Attawapiskat’s previous elementary school, which was located on the site of a large diesel spill, was shuttered permanently in 2000. Council members gave diesel contamination and structural issues as the reason for the closure.

Lessons were taught in portable classrooms with limited protection from the elements while band leadership and the federal government locked horns over funding agreements.

Local youth took to lobbying the government themselves and pushing for a new school, which finally opened in 2014 with an estimated price tag of $30 million.

Band leadership contends the recent flood came about as a result of a construction error when installing the sprinkler system in the two-story building. The claim has not been independently verified.

Meanwhile, other social issues have plagued the beleaguered Cree community.

Last April, Attawapiskat’s chief declared a state of emergency after a spike in suicide attempts by the community’s youth. At one point officials said they thwarted what they called a suicide pact by 13 young aboriginal people, including a nine-year-old.

Michelle McQuigge, The Canadian Press