Students and teachers at Alta Vista Public School will have the rest of the week off, as the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board said on Wednesday that the school will be closed for emergency repairs.
According to the board, school officials noticed water damage and excessive moisture in one area of the building on Monday.
To ensure safety, board staff closed off the affected portion of the building and began to investigate the source of the damage.
The board says its investigation found a leak in a pipe connected to the steam plant, which is part of the building’s heating system. The exact location and cause of the leak are still being confirmed.
In order for the leak to be found and repaired, extensive work needs to be done in the building, including some excavation, which the board says would be highly disruptive to the learning and working environment of both teachers and students.
As a result, the board has elected to close the building on Thursday and Friday. Repairs are expected to be completed before classes resume on Monday.
The board says an email will be sent to parents by 7 p.m. Sunday saying whether or not the school will reopen the following day.
Recently, the government of Ontario cancelled the $100-million school repair fund as part of Premier Doug Ford’s campaign promise to scrap the cap-and-trade system.
The province has an approximate $15-billion repair backlog at its 4,900 publicly funded schools.