Queen’s Park has committed $19.5-million to Bluewater District School Board’s John Diefenbaker Secondary School in Hanover via the School Board Efficiencies and Modernization initiative.
Superintendent of Business and Treasurer, Rob Cummings, says the funding from the Ministry of Education is meant to address JDSS’s accommodation concerns.
He tells Bayshore Broadcasting News the province is really “trying to reduce their excess space in schools” right across Ontario to trim the ballooning costs.
Cummings says the $19.5-million must be utilized by the 2017-18 school year.
The money can be spent at the Bluewater Board’s discretion, whether that’s through school consolidations or the construction of a replacement facility for JDSS.
According to Cummings, they’re currently in the process of establishing a recommendation and implementation plan/strategy for Trustees to review.
John Diefenbaker Senior School is an aging building, and while Cummings didn’t have the price for renovations, he says a rebuild would cost roughly $28-million.
The Bluewater Board resubmitted their funding application during the Autumn months of 2014, and the original request was for approximately $28-million.
However, the Board was only eligible to receive $19.5-million due to revised student enrolment data, which is predicting a decline in the number of students at JDSS.
$750-million will be distributed through the Efficiencies and Modernization program to specific school boards, encouraging them to be efficient with their school space.
