Students in Southern Labrador must wait until October to start at their new school following construction delays on Labrador Straits Academy.
Instead of entering a brand new facility on the first day of the academic year, the 200 students will instead head to Mountain Feild Academy where they will attend classes until the new K-12 school in L'Anse au Loup is ready.
And students and parents are not impressed.
L'Anse au Loup resident Karen Davis, who has one child in grade five and another in grade seven, said she was disappointed the institution would not be ready.
"It's definitely going to be a disruption for the kids to have to start in one school and then in a month or a month and a half to go to another school they have never been before," she told the Pen last week.
"We've been hearing about it since last spring. If it is only six weeks delay, then something should have been done to have it ready on time."
Selma Normore, who also has two children headed to the new school, agrees.
"I'm disappointed, very much so," she said.
"My kids were so looking forward to going into the new school, especially since one of them is the first grade seven to go to the new school."
Grade 11 student Jonathan Smith also feels let down because it means he has to take a bus where as he could have walked to Labrador Straits Academy.
"Getting up so early in the morning and taking the bus - I'm really disappointed having to do that again," he said.
Western School District director, Dr Ross Elliott, was sympathetic to parent concerns but said his office had not heard from any parents upset with the delays.
"We want to say that we would understand if there was concerns but ... my understanding is that the school administration and the students are resilient, and I think they're going to be focused on creating the best school they can," he said.
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