Lester B Pearson Closings

The rain we’ve had on top of accumulated snow has caused Quebec’s largest English language school board to close all its facilities 20 March, 2008. This makes for a 6-day weekend for children who were about to be off for the Easter break & Tuesday’s pedagogical day. Here’s the announcement from the board’s web site:

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PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES IN EFFECT
MARCH 19, 2008
All schools, centres and the head office of the Lester B. Pearson School Board will be closed Thursday, March 20, 2008.
Precautionary measures are in effect due to concerns raised by the board’s Equipment Services Department about changes to the situation regarding the accumulation of snow on roofs due to current weather conditions.The professional engineering staff of Equipment Services, informed the Administration and Council of Commissioners of the department’s recommendation during the evening of Wednesday, March 19th.

Although the current snow and rainfall has not been large, the risk has increased due to changes in the density of the remaining snow and therefore the load on all roofs has increased.

Professional roofing contractors have been removing snow from roofs as early as Wednesday, March 12th. The board placed their contractors on retainer when an earlier assessment of the upcoming weather conditions changed the current situation.

Work will be ongoing throughout the long weekend, weather permitting, and a decision to re-open the schools will be made during that time.

Where the safety of students and staff is in question, the school board’s decision to continue the work and carry out further inspections while its buildings are vacant is strongly felt to be the best course of action.

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