No lights or heat for some Whitehorse students on first day back

Some students at cole milie-Tremblaystarted the school year yesterday in the dark and without heat in their classroomon a cloudy, dampdayin Whitehorse, where outside temperatures averaged about 9 degrees.

The grade fourclass is in a newly built portable behind the school, but the electrical system has yet to be hooked-up.

"We asked the students to bring an extra sweater because there is no heating, but we're hopeful it's just for a couple of days," said Marc Champagne, director of the commission scolaire francophone du Yukon, the territory's Francophone school board.

Champagne said the school has seen another large increase in the student population this year, creating the need for more space.

"Almost 40 more students than we had last year which is creating all kinds of challenges," he said. "It's great to see the number of students increasing, but we need to find room for all of these students."

He said the new portable was added over the summer, but there was a delay connecting the electrical system.

"We're hoping that that will be dealt with early this week," he said, adding he not sure what caused the delay because the school board is not directly supervising the project.

The territory's Department of Education referred calls from CBC to the Department of Highways and Public Works, which is responsible for the construction of the portables. As fo Monday evening,there was no response.

Meanwhile, Champagne said fire regulations are being followed. Although there is no electricity in the new portable to supply a fire alarm system, he said "we have an actual person in place who is doing a fire watch."