Moncton High's safety concerns teachers

The majority of Moncton High School teachers want to move out of the 75-year-old building because of ongoing safety concerns.

A union source confirmed the teachers sent Karen Branscombe, the District 2 superintendent, a letter on Wednesday outlining their fears about working in the 75-year-oold school.

A source within the union says the vast majority of teachers at Moncton High are keeping logs of their personal health and more than half say they are sick.

This is not the first time the problem has surfaced.

In April, Craig Eagles, a teacher at Moncton High School, told the consultant looking into the future of the school the problem is getting worse.

"We have 50 signatures from teachers in the building three years ago complaining of illness," Eagles said at the time.

The consultants report on what to do with the aging building is due next week.

Ontario-based CS&P Architects said it could cost $48 million to bring the school up to building code. Many new schools are expected to have a life of 30 years

But the teachers are worried this is just a delaying tactic.

They want an immediate decision on dealing with their health and safety concerns and they feel the only solution is to move out of the building.

A representative for the school district confirmed they've received this letter.

The person says district officials met all day to deal with the problem but the spokesperson would not offer any further comment.

Moncton High sent home its 1,300 students last week after engineers discovered that six structural columns needed to be fixed.

The repairs completed last week are estimated to have cost $50,000.

The district estimates that in the last 18 months there have been 250 different repair projects undertaken at the building, which first opened in 1935.

Other problems have since been found, forcing one classroom and the old gym to be sealed off from students.