Money for new École St. Pius X needed, repairs unsustainable: board members
Crumbling infrastructure and a lack of money have concerned citizens wondering just how long Regina's École St. Pius X can stay open.
The decades-old school has a leaky roof and other issues including the floor heaving and ceiling tiles falling off. There was no money for a rebuild allocated in the latest provincial budget.
"We don't know until the next budget whether it's a priority or not," said Lara Davyduke, a member of the student-parent council.
She noted safety measures are being taken to keep staff and students safe but those too are not sustainable over the short or long terms.
Tuesday night, she was one of the parents who met with representatives from Regina Catholic School Division board to get answers about the state and future of the school. Safety of students and a timeline for funding were the two main topics of discussion.
The school can be repaired but it's not financially sustainable, nor does it make much sense to keep repairing it, according to Domenic Scuglia, director of education for the school division.
Some classrooms are closed and cannot be used. Portable units are being used and will be as long as they're needed.
The school is regularly inspected to ensure its safety but a prior engineering assessment gave the school a limited lifespan, stating 2019 should be the last year of operation.
Scuglia said the government is being lobbied to put up some money for capital, and he described Education Minister Gord Wyant as "receptive."
"We can keep using our maintenance money to keep fixing it to run as long as we can, but at some point the cost of return of doing that doesn't really continue to make sense," Scuglia said.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Education confirmed in an email the Catholic school division has made a capital request for the school.
"All major capital requests that have been received by school divisions are prioritized annually, ranking requests for major capital funding based on three components: health and safety, efficiency, and facility condition," the email said.
"Once the provincial budget is tabled, the ministry publishes a list of the Top 10 major capital requests. The current Top 10 list includes St. Pius."
