Students from Oxford Regional Education Centre will be relocated to schools in Pugwash, N.S., for the start of the upcoming school year due to structural repairs required at the school.

The students range from primary to Grade 12. The distance between the two communities is 26 kilometres.

"There are issues around mortar in different parts of the building," said Chris Boulter, a supervisor for the Chignecto-Central Regional Centre for Education.

"We are still investigating that issue and the safety of the students and our staff comes first, and we have assessed that we are not able to put our students back there for the start of the school season."

Split-shift format

That means students from Oxford in Grade 7-12 will attend Pugwash District High School in a split-shift format. Pugwash students will attend class in the morning while the high school students from Oxford will attend in the afternoon.

Oxford students in primary to Grade 3 will attend class at Cyrus Eaton Elementary School. Students in Grade 4-6 from both Cyrus Eaton and Oxford will attend classes in a designated area of Pugwash high school.

The pre-primary program at Cyrus Eaton will stay at that facility, which will also host pre-primary from Oxford.

"Right now our transportation department is working around the clock to create new bus routes," said Boulter.

More work will be done at the Oxford school on Monday and Tuesday to determine how extensive the repair work will be and how long it will take.

School cost $18 million

The school opened in 2010 at a cost of $18 million.

"We want answers as soon as possible as to what the scope of the work is and what the time frame will be for students to return to the building safely," said Boulter.

Other Chignecto-Central Regional schools are also undergoing last-minute repairs prior to the school year.

Frank H. MacDonald Elementary School students are also being relocated.

Primary to Grade 4 classes will relocate to East Pictou Middle School but busing will not be affected as the schools are located next to each other.

The pre-primary class scheduled to open at Frank H. MacDonald this September will relocate to Thorburn Consolidated.

Dr. W.A. MacLeod Elementary School in Stellarton is undergoing structural repairs but it is expected to be open in time for students to return on Sept. 6.

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