Tumbler Ridge Secondary School to be torn down and rebuilt after mass shooting, province says

B.C.’s premier says Tumbler Ridge Secondary School will be torn down and rebuilt at a new location after February’s deadly mass shooting.

David Eby made the announcement Thursday afternoon on the steps of the legislature, saying the province is “committed to get this new school built as quickly as possible.”

“The direction of the community is clear,” Eby said. “A new school on a new site.”

It’s been three months since the shooting claimed the lives of eight people, including five students and an education assistant who were fatally shot on the grounds of the school.

Eby, who promised students they would not be forced to return to the school, gave credit to the local school district for working with the community to determine the next steps.

“We want to make sure we’re doing things right by the survivors, by the families, by the people of Tumbler Ridge,” Eby said. “They need to direct this.”

About 160 students across Grades 7 to 12 attend the secondary school, and have since returned to class in portables set up on the grounds of the local elementary school.

The province says larger, more modular classrooms will be built in Tumbler Ridge in the coming weeks to use while plans for a permanent replacement are underway.

It says the new modular classrooms will be twice the size of the existing trailers being used, with each unit able to accommodate 25 to 30 students. Eight of the units will be in place by fall 2026 to use as classrooms, along with five more to be used by administration and as common space.

WATCH | New school to replace site of deadly shooting:

Tumbler Ridge Secondary School will be demolished and rebuilt after mass shooting

Tumbler Ridge Secondary School will be demolished and rebuilt after mass shooting. Matt Prepost reports.

Announcement welcomed

Nicole Noksana, chair of the Tumbler Ridge Parent Advisory Council, welcomed the announcement. She has a child in Grade 6 and another in Grade 9.

“They were pretty adamant that they would not be returning,” Noksana said. “This is the announcement they hoped and they expected.”

Noksana hopes the new school will include purpose-built areas for mental health and modern spaces for hands-on learning, including the school’s woodshop and mechanics class as well as science fish farm.

Chad Anderson, chair of School District 59, says he’s glad to see the support of the provincial and federal governments to move forward.

“That building now, for many members of the community and families in the community, is really extending the trauma in their lives,” Anderson said.

“They’ve been through enough already. What we want to do is take that next step to move forward and provide some measure of healing.”

Eby says the province doesn’t yet know how much the new school will cost or how soon construction will begin.

But he says the federal government will help fund the project, which he called “special” for the province.

“There’s just so much good will for Tumbler Ridge, whether it’s among the province as a whole or the contracting community, the construction community, the people who would be working on this project,” Eby said.

“I suspect that we will be able to pull people together very quickly to respond and get this project built quickly for the kids of Tumbler Ridge.”

Future of old school site to be determined

Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka acknowledged some youth and residents preferred to renovate the school, but said Safer Schools Together undertook extensive consultations to find a consensus.

“We got to listen to the community as a whole,” he said.

“Our children and youth are so important and so strong. But a majority of them have a concern going back.”

He says continued consultations with families of the victims as well as residents will determine whether the land of the old school site becomes a permanent memorial or park, or whether it remains empty.

“That’s going to be up to the community,” Krakowka said.

The police investigation into the shooting is in its final stages.

WATCH | Tumbler Ridge family on return to class:

‘It feels very isolated’: Tumbler Ridge student on return to class

Students have returned to class, in portables, in Tumbler Ridge after a mass shooting last month. Meanwhile, a coroner’s inquest will be held looking into the tragedy. Grade 12 student Darian Quist and his mother Shelley discuss how the community is recovering with CBC’s Sarah Penton.

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