Pull together in school closings: federation

The president of the P.E.I. Teachers' Federation says she hopes the Eastern School District will be able to handle its recent closings due to mould as well as the Western School Board handled a similar challenge.

The district announced Friday that Spring Park Elementary in Charlottetown and Morell Consolidated in the village of Morell were being shut down, effective immediately, due to mould and air quality concerns.

In October, Elm Street Elementary School in Summerside was closed because of mould.

"It is going to be disruptive, there's no doubt," federation president Carrie St. Jean said of the new closures.

"But we hope that people will follow the lead that they saw in the Western School Board and we really have had tremendous support from teachers and staff up there and from parents. And everyone has gone the extra mile to make room and be welcoming, so I have faith that that will work for us in the eastern district as well."

St. Jean said the federation supports the decision to close the 45-year-old schools because teachers and students were experiencing health problems.

She said moving the 626 students and 85 staff won't be easy, though.

"It's a big surprise," she said. "You know I think this is going to be very disruptive for a few days for teachers, administrators — and it's obviously going to be disruptive for families. I want to be there [to] support them in any way we can."

The province has said it's working on a plan to check the air quality in all Island schools.