Students in Laval struggle to keep up after asbestos detected and school closed

Families of students at Horizon Jeunesse High School in Laval spent Tuesday morning picking up laptops for online learning after asbestos plagued their plans for a traditional return to the classroom.

Poonam Shankar says her teens, Serena and Akash, are feeling left behind.

"Some of their friends started at other schools already, so they are panicking," she said.

While many students will be logging in solely from home, some will attend classes in person for half days at the nearby Mike Bossy Arena as well at another school in the area. 

Shankar says she already took one week off work to manage the back-to-school season, and now, she has requested more time off. 

"It's from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and the other half is at home, so it's a bit hectic," she said.

Cleaning and decontamination are still underway at Horizon Jeunesse after test results confirmed this weekend that asbestos fibres were found at the school.

Students won't be fully re-integrated until mid-October.

Meanwhile, the administration is working on relocating them to other schools by Sept. 9, but some families say that's not an ideal solution.

Eric Bernier's sons, Samuel and Logan, are new students at Horizon Jeunesse. He said being scattered only adds to the challenge of making friends. 

"It's going to be quite hard for them actually," said Bernier. "They won't be able to communicate together, and once they get back, [they are] still going to have to redo it again because it didn't start quite well."

While it's a frustrating situation for families, students can look forward to a field trip this Friday organized by the school.