By Brent Bosker

La Loche High School resuming classes Feb. 22

Feb 3, 2016 | 12:16 PM

Students at Dene High School in La Loche will be going back to class almost one month after a deadly shooting took place inside the school walls and devastated the remote community.

According to the executive director of the Friendship Centre in La Loche, Leonard Montgrand, Feb. 22 is when the school will reopen after teacher Adam Wood and teacher’s aid Marie Janvier were shot to death on Jan. 22.
 
Safety and security at the school is top of mind for parents like Montgrand as they prepare to send their kids back with the memories of what happened inside still fresh in their minds.
 
“That’s our biggest fear. We just want to go there with our child and make sure everything is good.
 
“It’s not drop them off at the door and say ‘OK nothing ever happened.’ We have to ensure that transition.”
 
That transition, Montgrand said, needs to include having security in place before students and staff walk through the doors again. The Ministry of Education already committed to beefing up security, but said the specifics would be left up to the community.
 
“We’re not asking for armed security or anything. Just to have security to ease that … our children are safe and we have one more thing to ease the transition part.”
 
Montgrand said officials from the Northern Lights School Division will be meeting with the community soon to discuss safety procedures and to address the concerns of parents.
 
Montgrand said he and his wife will accompany their son on the first day back to school. The Northern Lights School Division couldn’t be reached for comment.

bbosker@ckom.com
On Twitter: @Brentbosker