Garden Hill students, staff facing packed classrooms and mould say new school would give them breathing room

Mould, overcrowded classrooms and a lack of space are prompting calls for a new high school in Garden Hill First Nation.

The challenges come after officials in the northeastern Manitoba First Nation decided to have students repeat a grade in the 2021-22 school year, after the previous year was determined to be a loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

And last year, students were forced out of the high school for several weeks due to mould found in a wing of the junior high.

Dayna McDougall, a Grade 9 student who was recently elected chief of Garden Hill First Nation High School's student council, said when the mould was discovered last year, all of the school's students were impacted.

"It's kinda rough… We had to move to elementary school to go to school there, and having to sit in small desks. It wasn't OK with us," he said.

"This year, they brought us back here [to the high school]."

The mould remains, but is contained in a condemned hallway with four unusable classrooms.

"It's kind of sad, because they're having to combine the students [in classrooms].… There's a ton more students than last year," said McDougall.

That's in part because of the addition of Grade 6 students this year at Garden Hill's high school, as the elementary school building was beyond capacity.

The fly-in community, about 475 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, has approximately 1,200 kindergarten to Grade 12 students enrolled in its elementary and high schools.

"We don't have that much space, so it's getting overcrowded," said Grade 9 student Joshua "Joy" McPherson, who was recently elected school councillor.

Some high school classes, such as the nutrition and textiles classes, are doubling up in one room. The school cafeteria was converted to a classroom space. There is no space for a music room.

"I want the mould to be removed so we can finally have classes that won't be cluttered with students,'' said Daisy "Viper" Harper, who was recently elected vice-chief of the student council.

Garden Hill's students are still catching up after repeating a grade last year — a decision made by the former education director — after classes were completely cancelled during the pandemic and attempts at remote learning attempts were unsuccessful.