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Boy's song inspires Francois Legault to rebuild flooded school in Beauce

Quebec Premier Francois Legault,
Quebec Premier Francois Legault speaks on the flooding situation at a news conference, during a visit of Quebec's Public Security operational headquarters, on Tuesday, April 30, 2019 in Quebec City. File photo by The Canadian Press/Jacques Boissinot

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A municipality in Quebec's Beauce region will be getting a new elementary school after a student's song about its sorry state drew the attention of Premier Francois Legault.

Legault said today the 84-year-old l'Accueil school in Scott, Que., which was damaged by recent floods, will be enlarged and moved to a new location outside the flood zone.

Speaking in the municipality south of Quebec City, Legault said he was touched by a song written by a sixth-grade student named James, who highlighted the plight of his school in a widely shared video.

In a song shared on Facebook by the boy's mother, James strums a guitar and asks the premier for a new school because his is flooded every year, as images of the damaged building play onscreen.

Legault said he agrees the old school is in bad shape and promised to speed up the building process so the new location can be ready in less than two years.

He also responded to James in a video message on social media, in which he thanked the student and assured him his request would be granted.

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