Ross River School engineering report should be public: Liberal leader

Yukon's Liberal leader wants to know if the government has done its homework when it comes to remediation work on the Ross River School.

The school was closed earlier this year after engineers found it was structurally unsound, leaving about 50 students attending classes in temporary facilities.

Sandy Silver, the MLA for Klondike, says the engineering reports should be made public, noting that the Ross River Dena Council has not received the reports either.

"We don't want to spend $2 million this year and maybe a million dollars later if we don't actually address the problem," he said in the legislature Monday.

"And the government's approach might be raising a few questions here. For example, is the government certain that the ground is stable enough to do these repairs?"

Highways and public works minister Scott Kent says the school was built using a system which removes heat from the soil beneath the foundation under the building, so the permafrost doesn't thaw.

"We've also contracted a local engineering firm to review the thermosiphon system data to determine if it's functioning as designed."

Kent says the government will compile a shortlist of qualified design-build teams, which will then be asked to bid on the job.

The government says it plans to have the school repaired by the beginning of classes next fall.