Students sent home in the wake of last week’s power disruption

Richard Froese and Kevin Laliberte
Smoky River Express

f Hundreds of students from throughout the Smoky River region received an unexpected break from the books as a result of last week’s extended power outage. Students were dismissed from Georges P. Vanier School in Donnelly shortly after 10:30 a.m., says principal David Doucet. “One of the biggest problems we experienced with the loss of power was that our water and toilets were not functioning,” says Doucet. After contacting ATCO Electric to determine the situation, and consulting with High Prairie School Division superintendent Ken Riegel, transportation director Gord Jessome, and Ecole Routher School principal Antoinette Romanchuck, a final decision was made around 10:30 a.m. to send students home “We didn’t want to make two bus runs – one for Vanier and one for Routhier.” “We held the buses until we knew what was happening,” says Doucet. Bus drivers are not permitted to drop off students at an empty house, he says, adding that most students and parents have an alternate plan to deal with surprises like the one last week. The situation proved to be similar in McLennan at Ecole Providence Catholic School where students were also sent home early as a result of the power failure. A spokesperson for the school who wished to remain anonymous says they began notifying parents about Holy Family Catholic Regional School Division’s decision to dismiss students at around 10:30 a.m. Power was restored by 11 a.m., but school officials continued with the dismissal process after being informed by ATCO Electricity that there were no guarantees power services would remain on. All students were out of the school by 12 noon. The only school in the Smoky River region to keep students in class was Ecole Heritage school in Falher. “We did not send students home,” says principal Linda Arsenault. The school had functioning water and toilets, students were warm, and all students and teachers were able to work in the classrooms which all have large windows to provide ample light, she says. “Everything was in place to provide security for students and teachers,” says Arsenault. “We had some minor disruptions, but nothing significant enough to justify closure of the school.” As long as the school has water, toilets, and heat, classes will continue, she says. Arsenault consulted with officials of the francophone Conseil scolaire du Nord-Ouest, who supported her in her decision to keep the school operating for all students from kindergarten to Grade 12 The source of the disruption was a breaker located inside the company’s Donnelly sub-station, located at the intersection of Highways 49 and 2. ATCO Electric crews were dispatched to the substation a short time later and spent most of the day working to restore electricity services. Power was restored to McLennan, Donnelly and Nampa shortly after 11 a.m. by feeding these areas through an alternate power source Residents in Falher and Girouxville were not quite as fortunate, however, and remained without power until around 4:15 p.m. that afternoon.