Cutting school repair fund makes no sense: Gates
Local students shouldn’t be unable to concentrate because of how hot it is in their classrooms during the warmer months, nor should they have to wear jackets and gloves in the winter, says Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates.
These are realities he has heard are taking place in Niagara schools — reasons he feels the move by Ontario’s Tory government to eliminate a $100-million school repair fund generated through the Liberals’ carbon gas tax is a dangerous one that will be a detriment to young minds and their learning environments.
“Cutting it makes absolutely no sense from a perspective of what our schools have been going through for the last number of years,” said Gates, who noted a recent visit he made to Garrison Road Public School in Fort Erie after receiving several letters from students who said high temperatures in their classrooms affected their ability to
“They haven’t been as good with consolidating schools. They’re going to find themselves in some difficulty.”
Robinson said DSBN’s schools are in “fantastic shape.”
Kim Yielding, manager of communications and public relations for DSBN, said there is no immediate, short-term impact as a result of the cut.
Yielding said DSBN has “shifted from a repair-when-broken to a more proactive” approach when keeping its schools up to date.
Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff, parliamentary assistant to Education Minister Lisa Thompson, declined a phone interview, but provided a statement on the recent decision made by his party.
“The Ontario PCs were elected on a commitment to cancel the cap-and-trade Liberal carbon tax, and that is exactly what we are doing,” he said.
“We are committed to putting money back in the pockets of hardworking Ontarians, and we will be consulting with front-line educators and school boards to ensure funds are being allocated in the most cost-effective ways possible,” Oosterhoff said.