It will cost Renfrew County’s public and Catholic school boards almost $220 million over the next 10 years to catch up on school infrastructure projects and maintain school buildings in a “state of good repair.”
Both school boards are in relatively good shape in terms of capacity, however, as the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario (FAO) says it will cost only $31 million to build new student spaces in the next decade.
Those figures are included in a new report released by the FAO last month comparing the cost of school maintenance and construction with funding provided by the Ministry of Education.
Overall, using Ministry information, the FAO found there were 4,850 schools in 72 district school boards in Ontario in the 2023-24 school year.
Just over 62 per cent of those schools were considered to be in a state of good repair (SOGR), while more than 37 per cent were below grade.
The FAO estimates the cost to bring all schools up to standard and keep them there over the next 10 years will come to a total of $21.7 billion…
- For the full story, pick up a copy of this week’s NRT.
The NRT website offers just a sample of what you’ll find inside each week’s issue. To get the full NRT delivered directly to your mail box or inbox each week, subscribe to our print or digital editions here.
