Students part of the TREC programs will have to wait a little while before reunited at Happyvale (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Chad Klassen

TREC PROGRAMS

TREC students will have to wait at least two months before being reunited at Happyvale

Sep 17, 2019 | 10:01 AM

KAMLOOPS — Parents whose children are part of the Twin Rivers Education Centre (TREC) programs remain unhappy with how the school district has shuffled the pieces since the Parkcrest Elementary fire.

While each program found a new home, parents say the spaces aren’t ideal for learning. Some still feel the TREC students at NorKam are at risk.

On Monday night, the district hosted an informational session for TREC parents, some who came away with few answers and not feeling heard.

“We need to be enveloped. We need to be hugged just as much as Parkcrest was and moved as one. Not fragmented,” said TREC parent Christi Watchel, who attended Monday’s meeting.

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Watchel says the 177 students under the TREC umbrella are getting the short end. While her son is in the Bridges program and is relatively safe at the John Tod Centre, she fears for the TREC students who remain at Norkam.

“I’m really worried that we are going to lose some of these kids,” she said. “Through bullying, whether it be at the bus stop or whether it be outside of school, whether it be cyberbullying.”

The school district says that will be the arrangement for at least the next two months until Happyvale is renovated. At that point, the TREC students will be reunited.

“The district has communicated that we will be looking at the Happyvale site,” said district assistant superintendent Bill Hamblett. “That has some current tenants in it, so that needs to be looked at. Then the Happyvale site would need some renovations. So the intermediate step would be — move the TREC program to Happyvale.”

The district is waiting on the Big Little Science Centre. The centre has found a location, which it has yet to disclose, and hopes to be out of Happyvale quickly.

“Our goal is to get out as soon as possible,” said assistant operator at the Big Little Science Centre Susan Hammond. “I know the district really needs to get in, and they’re actually here. They’re working around us. They’re so incredibly supportive. They’ve given us materials, loaned us some of those big sea cans, so we can load those up.”

Watchel says the potential for the TREC students to move to Happyvale in the next two months is promising. But for some of the more vulnerable students, two months will seem like a long time.

“Two months can fly, but it can also drag on like crazy. Once they’re all back together, it will be like a big family reunion,” said Watchel.