Mont-Bleu students may be moved into a federal government building as their school is repaired following fire damage.
“There are some discussions between the Quebec government and Federal government to find another building, said Caroline Sauve, Communications with the Commission scolaire des Portages-de-l'Outaouais school board.
MP Greg Fergus says the government is working to find a building at the request of the school board.
“We’ve been exploring some options… we’re really working hard to make it happen,” Ferus said.
The rush to find a government building for the students comes after backlash to the original plan to place two schools under one roof.
Starting on Tuesday, there are 1,500 students from Mont-Bleu expected to attend De L’Ile secondary.
Both schools are expected to share a split schedule with Mont-Bleu students attending school from about 8:30a.m. to 12:50p.m. and De L’Ile students taking over from 1p.m. to 5:30p.m.
“It’s kind of wrecking the start of the year,” said one student from Mont-Bleu.
“I work from 3p.m. until 9p.m. so I am going to lose my job,” said another from De L’Ile.
There were protests from students and parents after the decision.
“We all know one solution makes some people unhappy, students and some staff members, so we never stopped looking at other solutions.
Fergus said finding a facility could takes weeks.
“We’re not going to be able to offer a short term solution, but we may be able to offer a medium term solution,” he said.
Mont-Bleu Secondary was badly damaged by the tornadoes in September. The school board says crews are working to have it repaired for the next school year.