Requests for provincial funding to replace Kelly Road secondary school and Nasdeh Yoh elementary school have been denied.
Among the six high-priority capital projects identified by School District 57, the school replacements were the big-ticket items on a $57.1 million wish list of funding requests made to the Education Ministry in the district's three-year capital plan.
"It is disappointing the ministry did not provide any funding," said SD 57 chair Sharel Warrington. "These are high priorities and they are in our capital plan as highly needed, but once we put our capital plan in place we enter the pool like everybody else. We remain hopeful, as the budget rolls itself out next year that, particularly those two projects will be acknowledged."
The estimated cost of the Kelly Road project, a total rebuild of the school, was pegged at $38.68 million, while the replacement of Nasdeh Yoh (formerly Carney Hill elementary), is a $7.3 million project.
Last year's snow load resulted in visible signs of sagging in the roof structure of Kelly Road's library/counseling area, which required a $300,000 upgrade, covered by the annual facilities grant. SD 57 secretary treasurer Alan Reed, who officially took over the job Monday with the retirement of Bryan Mix, said senior administration will continue to seek funding to replace the two schools.
"In conjunction with [the roofing project], a concern became with respect to the whole facility," said Reed. "[Kelly Road] is some 50-plus years old and was completed in various stages. It opened as a K-10 school so there have been a number of renovations and modifications over a number of years and it has come to the end of its useful life."
He said Nasdeh Yoh, which also houses the Carney Hill Neighbourhood Centre Society and a daycare facility in addition the kindergarten-Grade 7 classes it provides, has also outlived its lifespan.
Reed said SD 57 should not feel like it's been singled out by the province by not having its priority projects approved.
"I'm not aware of any capital projects that have been funded in the province this year," said Reed.
A proposed expansion to D.P. Todd secondary was also quashed by the province. The project would replace portable classrooms now in place at the school and increase the building capacity from the current 625 students to 750.
Proposals to fund geothermal heating/mechanical upgrade projects at College Heights elementary ($1.7 million), cole Lac des Bois ($3.2 million) and Quinson elementary ($1.3 million) were also turned down. The funding request for College Heights was for next fiscal year, with Lac Des Bois to follow in 2014-15 and the Quinson project targeted for 2015-16.
With the exception of the D.P. Todd request, which was not supported by a project identification report, the ministry has assigned high-priority status to SD 57's six capital project requests.
"There are so many projects across the province that require capital upgrading and our district is like everyone else, we have huge needs because of schools that are aged," said Warrington. "We can't continue to upgrade them and hope that they are still going to be safe and healthy places for our students to learn."