NEWS RELEASE

DATE: Saturday, February 29, 2020
For Immediate Release

POST-FIRE CLEANUP AND PLANNING CONTINUE AT CHEMAINUS SECONDARY

COWICHAN VALLEY, BC – Planning and cleaning for the new week is well underway at Chemainus Secondary School after the second suspicious fire in two weeks caused damage to areas of the lower part of the school.

The lower area near the fire will be inaccessible to students, but it will not adversely affect classroom use.

Both District staff and remediation experts have been working hard to clean and prepare the school for students for their return on Monday.

Today, administration from Chemainus Secondary, principals from across the district, and District Administration opened the school for students to retrieve personal items for the weekend.

Several things are being put in place to help ensure the safety of everyone in the school for the coming weeks. There will be additional counselling resources at Chemainus Secondary starting Monday morning for any students or staff who need.

Additionally, starting on Monday morning, we will have a temporary, full-time, security guard and daytime custodian. This will continue as we work with the RCMP to determine who is responsible for these fires. Along with these precautions, a classroom sign in / out protocol will be strictly enforced.

It is our hope that these temporary additional precautions, coupled with the ongoing RCMP investigation will ensure the safety everyone in our school.

Anyone with information about this occurrence is asked to reach out to the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP detachment at 250-748-5522. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at cowichancrimestoppers.com to leave a secure tip online, or call 1-800-222-8477.

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Media Contact:
Mike Russell
Director of Communications
Cowichan Valley School District (SD79)
2557 Beverly Street,
Duncan, B.C., V9L 2X3
C: 250-510-6044
E: mrussell@sd79.bc.ca
W: www.sd79.bc.ca