$20M for school maintenance a drop in the bucket: Vancouver district

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A new $20 million funding announcement for school repairs and upgrades is being met with tepid praise from the Vancouver School District.

The money is on top of $45 million the province put towards the School Enhancement Program back in May.

Education Minister Mike Bernier describes it as a “fix-it fund”.

“We have some school districts who came forward whose projects didn’t quite make the criteria, we’re going to go back to them, work with them, and open up for other applications as well,” he explains.

Vancouver School District Chair Mike Lombardi says while they are always happy to get money, a share of $20 million will only put a small dent in their $700 million dollars worth of deferred maintenance costs across 110 schools.

“We’ll probably get $2 million, and that will be helpful and useful, but we need consistent, non-erratic funding so that we can do the planning that we need to do as a school board. ‘Drip drip drip’ is very difficult from a planning point of view,” Lombardi says.

“This is a very busy time of year for school districts,” adds board trustee Patti Bacchus, “and to be prepared to submit applications in, it looks like about two weeks, is very short notice.”

Districts have until Sept. 15th to apply for a share of the funding, which can be put towards plumbing, heating, roofing, windows, lighting, electrical upgrades or safety enhancements.

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