Extensive damage remediation will take at least the rest of the week to complete at St. Joseph's, with students waiting at home for the duration, following Wednesday morning's fire at the north-end Barrie high school.
A parent of a student who goes to the school said he was pleased with the overall response to the incident, including the flow of information distributed to families.
"The school sent out an email soon after the incident happened, then provided detailed updates regarding student pickup and the school closure,” he said in an email Thursday. “In a time when misinformation can spread through texts or social media, schools need to share up-to-date information quickly.
"I think the school did a good job in this case," the parent added.
Barrie Fire crews responded to a "small" blaze in one of the washrooms shortly before 9 a.m. on April 10. It was extinguished by school staff, but created a large amount of smoke, necessitating ventilation of the Cundles Road East building. No injuries were reported.
“The fire was contained and has been categorized as relatively minor by the fire department,” Pauline Stevenson, manager of communications for the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board, said on Thursday morning.
“At this point, there is significant clean-up required in areas immediately adjacent to the washroom," she added. "We also need to address any impacts related to smoke that spread through the HVAC system."
Stevenson said the board's priority is to ensure everything is “cleaned, remediated and air quality is tested.”
On Wednesday, school principal George Luck praised everyone for their "calm response" and for following directions during the evacuation. The decision was then made to dismiss students for the rest of the day.
Later in the evening, in a notice to the school community, Luck told families that the school had been deemed unsafe to enter until remediation work was complete.
The school board has retained a third-party contractor to assess, repair and remediate any damage caused by the fire. Air-quality testing also needs to be completed.
When staff and students can return to classes in the building remains unknown. School officials have said they expect to send out an email Sunday evening with an update over the weekend.
The school principal called the incident a "selfish and dangerous act" that has caused a "significant disturbance to our entire school community." Anyone with information was asked to contact the school directly, he added.
A spokesperson for Barrie police said it is not involved with the investigation at this time.
Barrie Fire and Emergency Service had no new information to offer as of Thursday morning.
