Local school officials are frustrated with the cancellation of some provincial funding.
The Ford government has pulled the plug on the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, essentially cancelling up to $100 million that had been earmarked for school renovations across Ontario.
Superintendent of Business Brian McKay says that boils down to $1.6 million in capital funding for the Lambton Kent District School Board.
“We had projects that were already underway that were to use all of the $1.6 million dollars. So for this year, they will honour that commitment and we will still be able to use the $1.6 mill dollars. But going forward into next year, we will lose that funding on an annual basis,” says McKay.
McKay says plans that had been in the works for the next 5-10 years will have to be re-examined, which will likely mean fewer projects being done in fewer schools.
“What that means is that we now have to back and ultimately take out $1.6 million dollars of projected funding each year from that capital plan and adjust projects … that will just cause delays for us to get that work completed,” McKay says.
Officials with the St Clair Catholic District School Board say none of their capital projects have been affected by the funding cut.