Moving to the Replacement School is Delayed... Again!
I will try to keep this post relatively concise for the sake of clarity!
We will not be moving into the replacement school before the holidays, therefore school will remain in session on December 16 and 17, 2021.
Anyone who has been involved with building and/or moving into a new home knows that there can be many challenges that lead to delays and, unfortunately, the replacement Chester Ronning School will not be ready for us before the holiday season. I sincerely hope that all students will be able to attend classes through the entire school week of December 13-17 but I also understand that some families will have made alternate plans for December 16 and 17 that may be difficult to change now.
This is disappointing for our staff and I am sure that this news will be equally disappointing for our students and families, especially since we are now on plan C or D for this process! Originally, we were expecting to move during the Fall Break in November but that was postponed until just before the Christmas Holiday and now it is being delayed once again. I know that this is rather short notice with less than three weeks remaining before the break but I also know that our school division has been holding out hope that another delay would not be necessary, so they waited as long as possible before postponing the move for a second time.
To my knowledge, there are a number or factors involved in this most recent delay. Some of the reasons for this delay include but are not limited to pandemic-related supply shortages and materials manufactured in British Columbia that are taking longer to get here due to the flooding that our neighboring province is experiencing. Understandably after two delays, BRSD plans to wait for more certainty before announcing the next possible moving day. BRSD has indicated that we can expect the school to be closed for two days to facilitate the move whenever that may be.
Whenever we do finally make the move, what I do know is that the the replacement school is going to be a beautiful place of learning. Our intention is to commemorate the new building with appropriate ceremonies and, of course, an opportunity to open it up to our families and community as soon as possible once we are settled there.
Please stay tuned for more information in the New Year!
Yours in Education,
Reid Lansing
Principal - Chester Ronning School