The Nanaimo school district approved a spending bylaw for about $2.27 million in provincial government annual facilities grant money for the 2015-16 school year.
School trustees approved the bylaw at the June 24 regular meeting. A majority of the money will go toward school re-roofing at a cost of $559,058, while $500,000 will go toward converting Cedar back to a high school.
Another $500,000 is currently unallocated. It had been set aside for Cedar elementary school conversion, but trustees previously voted to release money for other projects, according to Dale Burgos, school district spokesman, adding that there is no requirement for the money to be distributed in 2015-16.
Additionally, $100,044 is allocated for exterior painting, $52,965 for information systems upgrades, $294,239 for a strategic energy management plan, $29,424 for exterior pre-painting repairs and $58,850 for floor replacement.
Money totalling $294,242 is allocated for priority boiler replacement and $176,965 will be left in contingency.
In all, the province granted approximately $2.87 million in annual facilities grant money.
“The annual facilities grant from government, from their perspective, is funded through a portion that's capital and a portion that's operating, so the portion that's capital is what we pass in the bylaw, which is [$2.27 million]. The other part is, from the ministry's perspective, their operating portion of the AFG, so that's another $600,000. The [$2.27 million] plus the $600,000 gives you the total,” said Graham Roberts, secretary-treasurer.
The school district will see two operating portion amounts withheld by the province – $47,298 will go to Capital Asset Management Services and $257,535 to fund the costs of Next Generation Network Internet upgrades.