The official ribbon-cutting on the new F.H. Collins Secondary School may have happened, but there are still several loose ends for the Yukon government to tie up.

Many Yukoners knew that the new school would be smaller than the old building, which could house 1,000 students.

The new school is built for 750 students, and has seemingly tighter spaces in classrooms, the library and gymnasium.

“Buildings are getting smaller,” said F.H. Collins principal Darren Hays.

“I don’t know if you’re ever ideal-sized.”

The disappointing factor to Grade 12 students hoping to be the “first” graduates to cross the stage in the new school is that the gymnasium cannot accommodate as many guests as the former could.

Overflow visitors will have to watch the ceremony from a projector in the school’s atrium.

Education Minister Doug Graham said the gymnasium issue is a “peculiar” argument.

The gymnasium, he said, is exactly the same size as the old school’s, but has less seating once a stage is put up on the gym floor for the graduation.

To change the size of the gymnasium for one function per year would cost the government millions of dollars, he added.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” he said.

“It’s criticism for the sake of criticism.”

Principal Hays said coming from a large space at the old school could have contributed to more people noticing the smaller version next door.

“When you go to something smaller, it sometimes feels confining,” he said.

“There are definitely challenges in design ... (But) I’m sure there will be changes in this building.”

Several students have noticed the difference in space.

Hazel Lewis, a Grade 9 student, said the hallways feel smaller.

“It’s a big change,” she said in an interview at the school’s opening ceremony on Wednesday.

Grade 11 student Vaskor Chowdhury said the library is noticeably smaller, and has fewer people spending time in it during breaks.

Another student chipped in, adding that the stairwells get cramped easily and are often cold.

“(You) feel like you’re in a prison,” Chowdhury added.

But others appreciate the new-school feel.

Grade 10 student Lukas Kobler said the new school is “impressive.”

“It feels like a prototypical American high school,” he said.

The Department of Education confirmed that there had been issues with heating when the students and staff moved next door.

“The thermostat had been set too low, resulting in cooler conditions and condensation forming on the windows,” Jason Mackey, a department spokesperson, told the Star.

Staff have since received additional training on it, he said.

As for the size of hallways and stairwells, both meet building and fire codes.

Another issue that has been raised is that the gymnasium can’t hold up a volleyball net.

“An equipment issue with one of the volleyball nets has been identified and is being addressed,” Mackey said.

But perhaps the most uncomfortable issue is the open-concept washrooms in the new school.

Graham noted that on a visit to the school in November with the department, he noticed that though the stalls all had doors, the entrances to the bathrooms were open.

“I said to the department, ‘Fix that,’” Graham said.

Despite the command, there are still no doors on the entrances.

Mackey said that partitions are to be installed to the entrances for privacy – but an issue with hardware caused a delay.

Scheduled to be in place last week when classes resumed in the new building, the partitions “should be” installed sometime next week, he said.

“That was just a design flaw,” Graham said.

“To me, that should have been caught earlier.”

And among the problems like the open-concept bathrooms and chilly library is lingering contempt over the project as a whole.

The planning for the replacement school itself started in 2009.

In April 2010, a Yukon government press release stated the school was estimated to be completed in 2012. FSC Architects and Engineers Ltd. was awarded a $3-million contract for designing the new school.

Later, in 2011, Premier Darrell Pasloski and former education minister Patrick Rouble unveiled a sign announcing the work would be done a year later, in September 2013.

The budget of the fancy custom-designed school was originally set at $52.5 million.

Then costs started to rise and the price tag climbed to $56 million.

The government then scrapped the plans completely, after spending several years and millions of dollars paying employees working on the file and designing a school that would never get built.

For the Yukon NDP MLAs, the beef with the government rears its head when the school gets touted as being “on-budget” and “on-time” – as both Pasloski and Graham said at the opening ceremony Wednesday night.

“We haven’t seen the final numbers,” said NDP MLA Jan Stick.

The Department of Education stated its operating equipment budget for the replacement project is $3.1 million.

The Department of Highways and Public Works, which manages the construction budget and related contracts, stated the construction cost was $34 million, up from the original estimate of $31 million.

And it’s known from the original projections that the project was never on time.

Furthermore, a lot of work from students, teachers, parents and the department went into the first plan that was designed, Stick said.

“That was wasted money as far as I’m concerned, and should be included in the (final) costs.

“I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t have gone that way.”

As for any concerns regarding size, Stick is optimistic.

“We’ll have to wait and see what happens at grad,” she said.

But she wouldn’t be surprised if another high school starts getting planned soon.

“We’re probably going to need another high school in Whistle Bend, if that area fills up,” she said with a small laugh.

See photo spread and minister’s commentary.