Due to an “uncomfortable smell” left behind by skunks, students at a Winnipeg elementary school were forced to leave their classrooms.
Skunks found their way into a crawl space inside the school forcing Stevenson-Britannia School’s students and staff to be relocated to various locations outside of school grounds.
A letter posted on the door said, “The smell of skunk was worse today upon arrival as there are some challenges eradicating the animal (s). As a result, for students who arrived at school today, we will relocate classes until the conditions improve.”
One skunk has been captured and relocated, according to a statement from the school’s principal, Jane Couch.
“We have deployed ozone generators to filter the air and have made adjustments to our HVAC system. We are continuing to monitor the situation,” she said.
There are no safety issues, according to Couch, but the school is concentrating on getting rid of the residual smell so that staff and students may resume their classes. The smell, according to her, was first “strong and pungent” but has now subsided.
“We expect students should be able to return to their classrooms by early next week once the odor is addressed,” she continued.
A letter outlining the issue was delivered to a school parent, Kristina Taplin, early on Tuesday morning, she said.
“I find the entire situation a bit amusing,” said Taplin. “It did feel like the staff was trying to treat it lightheartedly, definitely trying to make sure everyone was comfortable, but also trying to figure out what was going on and what they could do.”
While acknowledging that it has been more challenging for some students, Taplin said her two children, who are in grades one and four, were loving the change of environment.
She expressed her admiration for how swiftly the other locations were able to accommodate the children, saying “it was really heartwarming and really just nice to know everybody is looking after the kids and making sure they are still able to go to school.”
