British ColumbiaParents of students who have spent the past two years riding a bus from Port Coquitlam to Coquitlam, B.C., to go to school are once again pushing for a faster rebuild of Hazel Trembath Elementary.Province says it will rebuild Hazel Trembath Elementary, but families say they have yet to see actionChad Pawson · CBC News · Posted: Oct 17, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours agoHazel Trembath Elementary School in Port Coquitlam was engulfed in flames on Oct. 14, 2023. Two years later, parents are frustrated it hasn’t been rebuilt. (City of Port Coquitlam/Instagram)Parents of students who have spent the past two years riding a bus from Port Coquitlam to Coquitlam, B.C., to go to school are once again pushing for a faster rebuild of Hazel Trembath Elementary.“Here we are now two years later where my daughter is now in Grade 3 and I’m starting to come to terms with the fact that she may not be able to get into a new Hazel Trembath because this has taken just so long,” said parent and Hazel Trembath Elementary School Parent Advisory Council (PAC) treasurer Megan MacDonald.The Port Coquitlam school was destroyed in a suspicious fire in October 2023. The school district said at the time it would take three years to rebuild, but two years on, the site remains an empty gravel field.“We heard in the immediate aftermath of the fire a lot of political promises from Victoria,” said Michael Thomas, the school district’s chair. “And now it’s time that this school be fully funded so that we can get on with construction.”Thomas was in Victoria in September and met with provincial officials to “plead the case” for the rebuild’s final funding approval.Families plan rallyOn Friday, Thomas and some Hazel Trembath families are set to rally at the school site to share the hardships of having to bus out of the community to attend class and their frustration that there is still no timeline to rebuild.“What was once a thriving school community of more than 215 kindergarten to Grade 5 students has now declined to just 163 students, as many families have chosen other options to avoid the daily commute,” said a release about the event.In March, the province confirmed that Hazel Trembath Elementary would be rebuilt and that funding for the project was included in the provincial budget. “However, since that announcement, there have been no further updates or timelines provided, yet the community has heard nothing more,” said rally organizers.The remains of Hazel Trembath are pictured after the October 2023 fire. (Ben Nelms/CBC News)The apparent lack of action has been a frustration for Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West, himself a former Hazel Trembath pupil, who also had a son attending at the time of the fire, which occurred overnight and did not cause any injuries.West says he’s written five letters to the province pleading for it to move faster.“The project remains mired in needless process and bureaucracy,” he wrote in a post to X earlier this month. Nearly two years ago, Hazel Trembath Elementary School in Port Coquitlam burned to the ground. The very next day, the provincial government promised it would be rebuilt.We’re still waiting.The project remains mired in needless process and bureaucracy. I’ve written the… pic.twitter.com/dFUEH0KpYk—BradWestPoCoNumber 1 priority, says premierAsked this week about the school rebuild, Premier David Eby was emphatic that it was a priority for his government and joked that local MLA Mike Farnworth, the minister of transportation and transit, has continuously pestered him about it. “It is his number one priority to get that school delivered in the community and we’re going to deliver it,” said Eby, without providing more details.The 2025 B.C. budget lists $4.6 billion to be spent over three years to seismically replace or upgrade schools across the province, but Hazel Trembath isn’t specifically listed.West along with the rally organizers have asked provincial officials, such as the minister of education and child care and minister of infrastructure, to attend the rally.Police have not announced any arrests or charges related to the investigation of the fire that destroyed the school.ABOUT THE AUTHORChad Pawson is a CBC News reporter in Vancouver. Please contact him at chad.pawson@cbc.ca.
Frustrated Port Coquitlam families to rally over slow rebuild of burned-down school
