Rick Bartolucci announces funding for Princess Anne Public School

“Our government is committed to enhancing educational resources for students in Sudbury,” says MPP.

Greater Sudbury – Students at Princess Anne Public School will benefit from a McGuinty government investment of $8.1 million to construct a new addition, Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci announced today.

“Our government recognizes that building and improving school facilities creates safe and engaging places for our students to learn and grow,” said Bartolucci.  “We are confident that today’s investment will go a long way to support students in Sudbury for generations to come.”

As part of a $500 million province-wide investment, the McGuinty government is giving Ontario kids better places to learn by improving publicly funded schools. 

Ontario is investing in a variety of ways to improve schools and make schools better places to learn. Projects include building new schools, expanding existing school facilities and reconfiguring school space to reduce energy costs.  This also creates economic benefits, such as work for local companies and helps to support a stronger, greener economy.

"With the support of the provincial government, we will be able to realize our vision for the accommodation of students of Wembley Public School and Princess Anne Public School," said Rainbow District School Board Chair Judy Hunda. "We commend the Province of Ontario for investing in our schools and our children, giving them the best educational opportunities possible.”

“By investing in better schools for our students, we’re helping them to succeed and reach their full potential,” concluded Bartolucci.  “Investing in school infrastructure strengthens the province’s economy by creating jobs in the short term but also positions our people for future prosperity by helping develop the next generation of contributing Ontarians.”

QUICK FACTS

Including today’s announcement, the McGuinty government has invested over $36.9 million this month towards school projects in Greater Sudbury 

In April 2009, Ontario announced a $550 million investment to help over 1000 schools become more energy efficient, creating and sustaining over 5,500 jobs.

Since 2003, the government of Ontario has invested $4.8 billion through the Good Places to Learn program. So far, over 12,000 school renewal projects, which include replacing roofs, windows and boilers, have been completed or are underway in schools across the province.
 
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Contact:
Rick Bartolucci
705 675-1914

Remarks

By Judy Hunda

Princess Anne Public School

Funding Announcement

Thursday, June 25, 2009

10 am

Good morning and thank you, once again Mr. Bartolucci, for more wonderful news as we continue the revitalization of Rainbow Schools.

With the support of the Province of Ontario, the leadership of our dedicated Board of Trustees, the input from our school community, and the hard work of staff, we will be able to realize our vision for the accommodation of students of Wembley Public School and Princess Anne Public School.

In the next two years, Princess Anne Public School will be renovated to ensure that we continue to provide the best educational opportunities possible in quality learning facilities.

As part of the renovations, we will be expanding Princess Anne with an addition of over 30,000 square feet, bringing the total capacity of the school to approximately 50,000 square feet.

When complete, this school will provide excellence in education to students from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8 from Princess Anne Public School and Wembley Public School, including students from Wembley’s three Intensive Support Programs.

In the process, we will be addressing the renewal needs of Princess Anne Public School and ensuring that we have sufficient space to accommodate the lower class sizes in the primary grades.

Princess Anne Public School received $1.3 million in Primary Class Size funding from the Ministry of Education to alleviate space pressures in JK to Grade 3.

With this investment and today’s funding announcement from the Province, we are ready to proceed. We expect to break ground in May 2010 with completion anticipated in the fall of 2011.

The revitalization of Princess Anne will enable us to maximize student learning within the resources available to the Board, in keeping with the following guiding principles:

1.    To ensure that all students continue to have access to the best programming possible in quality school facilities.

2.    To reduce surplus space.

3.    To ensure the sustainability of existing programs and services for all students of the Board.

The revitalization of Princess Anne Public School presents opportunities to enhance the use of the property, address capital needs, expand the building, and incorporate green technology into a sustainable school for the future. 

This will improve the learning environment for students and staff and produce long-term cost savings for the Board.

Yallowega Bélanger Architects are working on the design of the addition and the new site plan.

A second floor will be added to the existing footprint of the building.

The new site plan provides for improved children’s play areas, traffic flow and parking.  The front drop off zone will be enhanced to minimize the congestion that currently exists.

As part of this project, Princess Anne Public School will be getting a new boiler, new roof, new windows, new flooring, and new electrical and heating system upgrades to make it more energy efficient.

In summary, this project will meet the primary class size needs at Princess Anne Public School, accommodate all the students from Wembley Public School, address the capital needs at Princess Anne, using green technology wherever possible, and reduce operating costs, which means long-term savings for the Board.

Thank you, once again, Mr. Bartolucci for turning our vision into a reality. Thank you for this important investment in public education as we continue with the revitalization of Rainbow Schools.