Province devoting $740 million to school repairs

CTV Montreal: Investing in schools The provincial government is giving Montreal schools funding for renovations.

Plans for how the provincial government will spend $740 million to renovate schools across Quebec were outlined by Education Minister Sebastien Proulx Monday.

More than a third of that money -- $286 million – will go to Montreal-area schools that have more than 400 renovation projects in mind.

The Commission Scolaire de Montreal alone will get $190 million as it struggles with buildings that are in very bad shape following years of poor maintenance, and as it falls under pressure to expand due to growing enrolment.

“Ten years ago, we had $10 million a year so it's really a big amount,” said CSDM President Catherine Harel Bourdon.

The school board, however, is seeking to renovate 178 schools, so the extra money is only taking care of a fraction of the needs.

“We have $1.3 billion of work to do so we need this money for the next ten years,” said Harel Bourdon.

Fifty-five English schools will get $29 million to do infrastructure work that they've wanted to do for some time.

The English Montreal School Board will see $12.5 million of that money, exactly what it was expecting. It will use the funding to carry out 36 projects, including upgrading auditoriums and gyms, as well as fixing roofs and bathrooms.

Much of the spending announced Monday appears to have been previously mentioned in the most recent provincial budget.

Last year the province spent about $655 million on school renovations.

Regardless, many schools are quite pleased to get approval for projects that they have been hoping to complete for several years.

Most of the construction will take place during the summer of 2018, but some urgent projects will begin immediately.