Trauma experts will be on hand to help out staff and students when Edgecumbe's two major schools reopen for the new term on Monday.
Edgecumbe Primary and Edgecumbe College, located on the same grounds, have been allowed to re-open on Monday. Photo: Screenshot / Google Maps
Edgecumbe Primary and Edgecumbe College have been given the all-clear from Ministry officials to open their doors on Monday morning, as have Edgecumbe Playcentre and the Central Kindergarten.
By virtue of their elevated location the schools were spared much of the damage that affected residential properties when a vast flash-flood swept through the riverside town earlier this month.
However three buildings at the college have been cordoned off, as have the sports grounds at both the college and primary school, while they are tested for residual contamination.
The two schools have a combined roll of about 500 students.
The Ministry will also send trauma experts into Edgecumbe to counsel staff and students affected by the floods.
A senior manager at the Ministry, Katrina Casey, said their first few days would be spent gauging the psychological affect of the floods and subsequent evacuations on locals.
"They're really available to help the school leaders get the schools back up and running, and to work out what extra support they need."
"We will make sure that the kids get the right kind of help that they need, depending on what issues that they might present with."
The ministry said it was negotiating with bus companies to bring in extra transport, which could be used to shuttle in children whose families had relocated while the town is cleaned up.