Hazel Trembath parents, students frustrated on second anniversary of fire – BC

Oct. 14 marks two years since a Port Coquitlam elementary school burned down but a plan to rebuild the school has yet to be announced.

Since the fire, Hazel Trembath Elementary’s 250 students have been commuting an extra 20 minutes by bus to the Winslow Centre to continue their education.

Parents and faculty are frustrated with the province’s delayed promises to rebuild the school and expressed concerns about their children being taught far away from the original school site.

“They bus them every day, 15, 20 minutes there, 15, 20 minutes back,” Alaina Milicevic, PAC co-chair and parent at Hazel Trembath, told Global News.

“Somedays the bus arrives right on time, somedays they’re a little behind. Families who have activities right after school, they’re rushing.”

Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West also expressed his frustrations with the provincial government.

“It has been salt in the wound waiting for the government to fulfill its promise,” he said.

“The day after the fire, they said, ‘We’ll rebuild Hazel Trembath’. In the provincial budget, they said, ‘Don’t worry there’s money to rebuild Hazel Trembath’. So if they say they’re gonna rebuild it, if they say the money is in place, what are we waiting for?”

Parents told Global News they worry about their children’s future.

“At this point, my son’s in grade three, so the likelihood of him seeing the rebuilt school is disappearing. And then I’ve got my daughter, and we’re actually in limbo, we’re really not sure where she’s gonna start school next year.”, said Ollie Nietzel, a parent at Hazel Trembath.

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Though the police suspect the fire at the school to be human-caused, no charges have been laid.

The investigation into what happened is ongoing.

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