How Alberta students and schools are coping with wildfire evacuations

Hundreds of Alberta students were among those displaced by wildfires in the past week, though most are now able to resume their education in their own communities. 

Forty of the 68 Alberta schools that closed due to wildfires have reopened as of Thursday morning, according to Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis.

Ellis said on Thursday afternoon that 7,600 students have been able to return to class but 28 schools remain closed. The closures affect just over 6,000 students.

Alberta Education is encouraging schools to accept students from evacuated communities.

A spokesperson for the provincial emergency co-ordination centre said Wednesday night that the province is working closely with school divisions to support affected students and is continuing to assess the situation as it evolves, including implications for exams. 

Language arts provincial achievement tests (PATs) for students in grades six and nine are scheduled for May 15 and 17.

Northland School Division and Peace Wapiti Public School Division have opened their doors to displaced students. Spokespeople for Edmonton's public and Catholic school divisions said no evacuees had registered for their schools yet.

Abby Stilwell, principal of the K-8 Whispering Ridge Community School, north of Grande Prairie, said about 60-80 young evacuees were attending school on Wednesday. The school has remained open but many students live in wildfire alert areas.

"It was a nice opportunity for us to just open our arms and offer great big hugs and then get things kind of back to normal as quickly as possible, at least in one aspect of their lives," she said. 

Stilwell said the school gave Chromebooks and textbooks to a few students and dozens were taking advantage of additional food and snacks the school has brought in. 

Whispering Ridge was also offering water and access to laundry and shower facilities to evacuee families.

"It's more so [for] our families that are staying in holiday trailers and campers," Stilwell said. 

Exams could be delayed, waived

Brad Volkman, the superintendent of the Wildrose School Division, said about 1,900 students have been displaced in the Drayton Valley area.

"We're working on contingencies if this goes on further," he told CBC News earlier this week. 

He said the provincial government has told the division that PATs could be rescheduled for later in June and if Grade 12 students' education is too disrupted, they could be exempt from writing diploma exams.

"That is a government decision, not ours, so we wait for them on that," he said.

Students out of school

Kate Harrison, a Grade 11 student from Drayton Valley, was in her last class of the day on Thursday when discussions of nearby wildfire took over in her classroom.

Students were being called, notified of road closures and cancelled bus routes, and she and her peers started speculating what they would grab if there was an evacuation order. 

She and her mother left town that day to drive to a dance competition in Sherwood Park, seeing flames and smoke from the road. Later that night, while watching TV, they learned of the evacuation notice.

Tired and stressed, she and her teammates danced in the competition the next day.

Harrison is now staying at a hotel in Spruce Grove and visiting pets at a friend's house in Edmonton.

She said her teachers have been in touch, making sure everyone is safe and comfortable.

She said she's a little anxious about school since a lot of her supplies are still at home.

"There's really no way for me to participate in online lessons or online learning like I normally would have during COVID," she said.

"I'm sure the teachers will be so understanding because lots of them also aren't at home and are evacuated as well."

Brooke MacKay, also in Grade 11 and from Drayton Valley, said she is worried about finals and a lot of her friends, who are graduating this year, are worried about diploma exams.

Like Harrison, she also competed in the dance competition over the weekend. Dance medals and plaques were among the items she grabbed during the evacuation on Thursday night.

MacKay, who is now staying in British Columbia, said being away from home and separated from friends, who are staying across the province, has been isolating.

She said online school could be a good distraction.

"I wouldn't mind doing that at all," she said.