Classes set to resume after school roof collapse on Manitoba First Nation

Classes are set to resume on a northern Manitoba First Nation after heavy snow collapsed a portion of the community's school roof.

For the past week, classes were shut down at the Thunderbird School in O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation. As CTV News previously reported, a portion of the roof of the school collapsed under the weight of the heavy, wet snow, and strong winds ripped up the roof's metal sheeting.

Reg Klassen, the superintendent of the Frontier School Division, said students are set to return to class at the school on Tuesday.

He said engineers visited the school this week to assess the damage. Five classrooms and a couple washrooms will remain closed until repairs to the roof can be completed.

O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation Chief Shirley Ducharme previously told CTV News 234 students are enrolled at the Kindergarten to Grade 10 school. She told CTV News the building is nearing 48 years old.

Klassen said a new school feasibility study was completed in 2018, and since then about $1 million has been put towards the current school for ongoing maintenance and remediation.

He said there are ongoing discussions with the division, Indigenous Services Canada and the O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation band and council about getting a new school.

As for timeline, Klassen said there is nothing official but he hopes this incident will speed up the process.

-with files from CTV News' Simon Stones