Fire code crackdown: Halifax-area schools ordered to remove décor

Nova Scotia teachers have been instructed to remove almost all paper from their classrooms.

Halifax-area classroom will look more bare following Nova Scotia’s Office of the Fire Marshal’s inspections of schools.

Education Minister Brendan Maguire says all Halifax Regional Centre for Education (HRCE) schools and classrooms have until Friday to adhere to the Fire Safety Act, which says no more than 20 per cent of classroom wall space can be covered with what is descried as combustible materials.

Teachers have been directed to remove some materials like educational posters, student artwork and books to meet the code.

“It used to be that HRM (Halifax Regional Municipality) would look after the inspection,” said Maguire. “HRM is no longer doing that and so the Fire Marshal has stepped in to do the job.”

The province confirmed the municipality’s contract with Halifax Fire Service ended last year and now the Fire Marshal is in charge of compliance and inspections within HRCE schools, like all others across the province.

“We can confirm, there have been no changes in regulations or requirements under Nova Scotia’s Fire Safety Act affecting schools,” said Heather Fairbairn, a spokesperson for the Department of Municipal Affairs. “At that time, initial inspections identified some common areas of concern that were shared with the HRCE to address. Since then, OFM has been actively working with HRCE to ensure schools in Halifax are compliant with the Act and provide both teachers and students the same safe and supportive learning environment as other schools in the province.”

Maguire says all schools and classrooms were given a Jan. 31 deadline to meet the fire code. His office is working with the Fire Marshal to ensure all classrooms are safe and in compliance, but they are looking for a possible extension to the deadline to ensure everyone is on the same page.

“We are working with them on an extension to ensure they (schools and teachers) have the proper time to do this and that we can work with the schools and the Fire Marshal to ensure that we have the proper materials in the class and that it’s safe,” said Maguire.

Teona Bjork has two young school children and said she noticed some artwork had come down in her child’s Grade 1 class and questioned what the prompted the sudden crackdown of fire protocols, which she considers extreme.

“I’m all for safety and I think its important to have proper protocols for entering and exiting a school but I don’t to see how having less books in a classroom that are shelved properly is causing that much of an issue,” said Bjork.

Fairbairn said the Fire Marshal is focusing first on education to ensure school administrators have the information they need to keep their buildings safe. No orders to take action have been issued at this time.

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