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Gerry Reid, MHA for the District of Twillingate-Fogo and Opposition
Education Critic, says today’s announcement by Premier Danny Williams and
Education Minister Tom Hedderson to increase this year’s school maintenance
budget by $4million is a drop in the bucket, a short-term solution that will
not repair many of the schools that need investment. In last year’s
provincial budget, government set aside $8 million for maintenance and
repair projects for schools in the province. In the upcoming budget they
plan to increase funding to $12 million, an increase of only $4 million.
"This is another pre-budget window dressing announcement that does not
come anywhere near addressing the maintenance and repair costs needed in the
province’s schools," said Mr. Reid. "Increasing this program by only $4
million will ensure that this is only a band-aid solution and will not
address the real problems related to school maintenance. This is a pittance
considering that the former Liberal administration invested over $200
million in school maintenance and construction in the last five years of its
mandate.
"It is also unfortunate that this government continues to recycle last
year’s money. Government only spent $4 million of the budgeted amount for
school repairs in the last fiscal year and are now trying to pretend this
extra $4 million is new money. If government was serious about fixing
problems in our schools, they would have spent the entire $8 million they
announced in last year’s budget.
"I am also very surprised that government is willing to spend $250,000 on
a study to identify maintenance issues and develop a long-term strategy. The
Premier and Minister should consult with the school boards, teachers and
parents who have already identified the problem areas and have told
government how to address these issues. This wasted money could have been
used to replace the roofs at schools such as Mary Queen of Peace or Donald
C. Jamieson Academy where $250,000 is the listed costs in the capital
priority lists of the Eastern School Board. It could have been used to
replace the heating system at C.C. Loughlin in Corner Brook, repair the roof
at Our Lady of Labrador school and replace the windows at Bonne Bay Academy
for a combined cost of $240,000. These projects are much more worthwhile
than a study designed to take immediate pressure off government.
"It is unfortunate that this government doesn’t see the urgency in
addressing maintenance issues in schools. It has already been identified
that investments in maintenance and repair staff would dramatically help
improve this situation. Until government is serious about addressing this
problem, I predict these maintenance problems will continue."
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