Almost fixed

Ken Johnston

Work is progressing rapidly at Rainy River High School in the wake of a strike by a vandal on August 13th.
The vandal, who can not be named as they are under 18, travelled throughout the school causing damage and lit several small fires in the building early that day.
Principal Bob McGreevy said Monday that crews have been working long hours to get the school ready for students next week. “Fire restoration teams have been using special machines for getting the smoke out.”
McGreevy said there is no final cost estimates available on the damage to the school. “It could take some time to get that figure,” he said. The reason being is that until all the cleaning and repairs are done they won’t have a final total. “Some things are easy to get a cost on and others are still in progress.”
He estimated that between 30-35 computer monitors were damaged by the vandal as well as a few computers and printers. “New computer equipment arrived on Friday and another shipment is coming today. We will have the computer labs up and running before school starts.”
Another break-in at Fort Frances High School took place early last week, but the assailants were nabbed quickly as the alarm system there was triggered and attracted police quickly.
So why didn’t the alarm system do the same at RRHS? School Board Chief of Operations Raymond Roy said that is still under investigation.
Principal Bob McGreevy said that the construction in the school is also moving ahead quickly and he has been assured that all work in classrooms will be completed before school starts up. “They have brought in extra workers to get it done.”
The school has been under extensive construction this summer to put a new heating and air conditioning system in.