The opening of the Christina Gordon Public School in Fort McMurray has been delayed, and this could mean a wait of up to a year before students, teachers, and other staff can enter the school. The delay is caused by the recent wildfire and the devastation that it left behind. Right now construction and demolition efforts are focused on residences and commercial buildings so that the essential infrastructure is solid and residents have homes again. According to the superintendent for the Fort McMurray Public School District, Doug Nicholls, “We won’t be able to open in September. It’s an unfortunate delay, but it’s a minor setback. We will work with everyone involved to be in the school as soon as possible, but at the end of the day the students will receive a great education, We’re confident they’ll work very hard to get us into that school as soon as possible. Hopefully the school will open in January of next year.”

Much of the work on the Christina Gordon Public School is finished, but the contractor was one of those who weer forced to evacuate when the wildfire came to the area. Since the re-entry to Fort McMurray is still voluntary right now the contractor may not be one of the first to return and the work can not move forward until this happens. Other issues in the devastated community may also have to take priority, such as demolishing unsafe structures and removing health and safety hazards in the community. In the worst case scenario the school will open in the fall of 2017.