Moncton High will be safe by fall: Carr

New Brunswick's education minister says he is confident Moncton High School can be repaired in time for staff and students to return in the fall.

The 75-year-old building was closed last year due to environmental and safety concerns but on Wednesday, Education Minister Jody Carr announced it would be reopened and used until a new school opens in 2013.

"Certainly as minister, this is probably the most difficult decision that I've needed to make," Carr said Thursday.

Teachers from Moncton High walked out in protest when he announced the decision and some told CBC News they were seeking legal advice on how to avoid returning to the building.

Carr said he understood the emotions involved, but said he would not be sending staff and their students back to the same situation.

The province will invest $2 million in repairs to make Moncton High School safe for reopening, he said.

Parents divided on reopening

Anne Marie Picone Ford, who speaks for a group of Moncton Highparents, said she has been concerned about health problems at the school for more than a decade.

"This is not something that happened in September;it's ongoing. I'm very skeptical that $2 million is going to make everything well again in five months," she said.

Not everyone shared her view.

Paul Duncan said he welcomed news that his daughter and her classmates will be together again in the fall.

"It's been tough on them emotionally. I'm looking forward to some stability, I guess, is the best word," he said.

Duncan's daughter should be one of the first students to graduate in the new school if it opens on schedule.

Some Moncton Highstudents also expressed relief that there is a clear plan for the next few years.

Yoojin Choi, a Grade 12 student, said she was looking forward to returning to the landmark building.

"I'm kind of sad, but now you have to realize that everything is a compromise. I just hope that something like this won't happen again because I would not want anyone else to go through what we had to go through," she said.

"I just hope that we would get to graduate from our Moncton High School auditorium because we want to keep the tradition."

The education minister has yet to make a decision on where the next graduation ceremony will be held, but he said it was unlikely to be in the MHS auditorium.