Inuksuk High School students are studying from home this week due to a sewage line failure that forced the school building to close.
This broken pipe near Inuksuk High School in Iqaluit is why the school closed to students as of Monday. (Photo courtesy of Inuksuk High School)
The sewage line froze and then collapsed last Thursday, said Greg Belanger, a spokesperson for Transportation and Infrastructure Nunavut, in an email.
It’s uncertain when the repairs will be completed, said Kuthula Matshazi, director for stakeholder engagement with the Department of Education, in an email.
However, school officials are “expecting the building to be closed the remainder of this week,” said Inuksuk High School principal Tim Hoyt, who sent a message Sunday to parents.
Students will transition to remote learning until the problem is repaired, Hoyt said in his message, which was shared with Nunatsiaq News.
The school plans to distribute laptop computers and data sticks to high school students.
Grade 11 and 12 students and their parents can pick up the laptops in the Inuksuk High School’s main office on Monday from 1 to 5 p.m., while grade 9 and 10 students can pick up their devices Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Authorized adults or parents of underaged students must be present for the device pickup to sign a user agreement, Hoyt said.
Infrastructure issues are not new at Nunavut schools.
In 2022, staff at the territory’s 45 schools filed a total of 3,907 requests for structural repairs, building maintenance and upkeep of school grounds, Nunatsiaq News 2023 report found.
At the time, the Government of Nunavut spent approximately $18.1 million on school maintenance annually with another $11.5 million allocated for utilities.
— With files from Daron Letts
