Trinity Catholic College will build back, but where the campus will be located and when it will be back up and running is an open ended question.
Trinity's principal Jesse Smith knows the school and wider community want answers to these questions "yesterday".
But a full assessment of the February and March floods on Lismore's biggest private school is not expected to be delivered until July.
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Also there are questions over flood mitigation and insurance to be answered before Trinity can make an informed judgment about its future.
"Yes, we will certainly be back," Mr Smith said.
"We have been a continuous school for 136 years and we will be around for another 136 years.
"We are just waiting for the right pieces of information being on the table to make a big and consequential decision."
Mr Smith is well aware there's a high level of speculation about where and when Trinity will be back. But's he's not buying into it.
"Everyone wants answers to everything yesterday," he said.
"I think the most appropriate thing to do is just wait for the right information to be on the table. Also by doing that you are not creating additional uncertainty."
Right now the school and its students and teachers are divided between Southern Cross University and Woodlawn.
Mr Smith said that while he'd rather have them co-located on their own campus, this temporary fix is working.
"Teachers are teaching, students are learning and despite the disruptions of the flood there is a path for us in the interim," he said.
"I'd much prefer the school was back on one campus, with everyone together, but that is a small challenge when you compare it to many thousands of people sleeping on couches and out of their homes because of the floods."
Mr Smith said he hoped to have more concrete answers for the community by the middle of the year.
He also said it was important to get the decision-making right to give certainty into the future.
"We actually need to get big decisions right so that in 50 to 100 years' time there will still be students here in this area learning in these schools," he said.
I'm a media professional with over 34 years of experience in public relations and journalism, including a decade setting Lismore's news agenda as the editor of The Northern Star. I have proven track record in growing audiences and improving engagement by delivering quality local stories for and about the Lismore community.
I'm a media professional with over 34 years of experience in public relations and journalism, including a decade setting Lismore's news agenda as the editor of The Northern Star. I have proven track record in growing audiences and improving engagement by delivering quality local stories for and about the Lismore community.
