All P.E.I. schools expected to resume classes on Thursday
Stephen Brun | CBC News | Posted: February 7, 2024 10:57 PM | Last Updated: February 8
Students east of Summerside have been home for the first 3 days of the week
All students in Prince Edward Island are expected to be back in the classroom on Thursday after some enjoyed three days with no school due to the major snowfall that hit the Island over the weekend.
Schools Summerside and west reopened on Wednesday, but the rest were closed again thanks to a four-day storm that dropped 60 cm of snow in Charlottetown and more than 80 cm in parts of Kings County.
Late Wednesday afternoon, the Public Schools Branch said the five families of schools that had that third day off — Bluefield, Charlottetown, Montague, Morell and Souris — should be able to resume regular operations Thursday.
In an interview with CBC News: Compass host Louise Martin, the branch's director of transportation and risk management Dave Gillis said student safety was the biggest factor to consider in deciding whether the schools would be open or closed.
"There's not a back road in this province that we don't transport students from to get [them] to and from those schools," he said.
"Just because we were able to get the facilities open and operational does not necessarily mean we're able to safely get students to and from — and staff as well."
While things are expected to be back to normal Thursday, the Public Schools Branch reminded Islanders that updates would be provided in the morning through its website, social media channels and local radio stations.