Roland-Pépin students will be bused to Dalhousie

About 340 students from Campbellton will be forced to finish their school year in the nearby community of Dalhousie after their high school was closed for the year following revelations of structural problems.

The Grade 9 to 12 students from École Polyvalente Roland-Pépin will be off school for one more week and then the students will be bused roughly 25 kilometres to Dalhousie for the remainder of the school year.

When the Campbellton students arrive it will more than double the population of Dalhousie's École Aux Quatre Vents.

"Aux Quatre Vents can accept that number of students, but it's going to be a tight fit," said Eloi Doucet, a spokesman for School District 5.

"But it's going to be feasible for both schools to be delivered."

The Campbellton school was suddenly closed when the school district said it appeared the contractor, who built the Campbellton school 40 years ago, didn't build it to code.

Bus plan

School District 5 has already decided to bus the Grade 7 and 8 students to a school in Atholville.

The district is now finishing a plan to bus the remaining 340 students 25 kilometres to Dalhousie each day so they can finish their studies.

Helen LePage-Firth, the president of Roland-Pepin's parent school support committee, said sending the students to Dalhousie shouldn't disrupt the students.

"Yes they may have to get on the bus earlier in the morning and get home later at night," LePage-Firth said.

"But at least their curriculum remains the same, their schedule remains the same. So it's like the perfect result for this situation."

Contractor identified

Campbellton's Roland-Pépin and Moncton High School were both closed this year over health and safety concerns.

The Department of Education announced on Monday that it would conduct structural safety reviews of 229 schools, which were built prior to 1980.

The Department of Supply and Services is still investigating the problems at Roland-Pépin.

Radio-Canada is reporting the builder of the school as Brunswick Construction.

Brunswick Construction, which closed in 1986, also built several other schools, including Polyvalente A.J. Savoie in Saint-Quentin.

Eugene Durette, the former head of the company, would not agree to do a taped interview.

But he told Radio-Canada that he rejects the accusations his company didn't follow architectural plans when it built the school in the late 1960s.

He said an engineering firm was on site to inspect construction almost every day.

A Department of Supply and Services spokesman said a more detailed analysis of the situation needs to be carried out before there's any more finger pointing.