Phase 2 Kodiak Campus, part of a May-June protocol list for parents and students. Photo by supplied

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The flags are gone at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School. Five months after one of Canada’s worst school shootings, demolition has begun as students prepare to return this fall to a temporary campus unlike any other in Canada.

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Peace River South School District confirmed work to remove the former school is underway and will continue through the summer.

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The building will be dismantled in stages rather than demolished in an explosive bombastic fashion, with materials hauled by covered trucks to regional landfills outside Tumbler Ridge.

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“You will notice signs will be taken down and the flags will be removed,” district officials wrote in a community update last week. “We know that Tumbler Ridge Secondary School holds deep meaning for many people, and we recognize that the work ahead may bring a range of emotions.”

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The former school location has stood empty since February’s mass shooting traumatized the community and saw international media descend on the community.

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Following months of consultation with students, staff, families and residents, the district concluded the building should never again be used for student learning.

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Instead, students will begin the new school year at the temporary “Kodiak Campus,” a portable compound whose recently released safety planning documents reveal a fortified educational environment.

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On paper, the campus reads less like a conventional school. The site features a perimeter monitored by a 360-degree external camera system, after-hours motion detection, portable washroom buildings connected by supervised walkways, and a central modular complex housing offices, counselling services, staff workspaces and student gathering areas.

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Kodiak Campus schematic, outlining portables for students, buildings for admin staff, and courtyard areas, and washrooms. Photo by Submitted /Postmedia

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The campus will not operate as an open public facility.

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“The open campus (within the site perimeter) will permit supervised movement between portables and between washrooms,” states the district’s May-June safety plan.

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Two dedicated school safety liaisons will patrol the grounds each day. One will monitor student movement between classrooms and washroom facilities, while the second will act as a liaison between students and staff at both the secondary and elementary schools.

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“It will be expected that administration staff, both at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and Tumbler Ridge Elementary, and the school safety liaisons carry a radio at all times,” the plan states.

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Each portable classroom will also be equipped with both a fire alarm and a panic alarm pull station designed for lockdown situations.

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The district says a new permanent secondary school remains the long-term goal. Recommendations developed following community consultation called for a separate secondary campus near the town centre, while specifically recommending the existing building never again be used for education.