Government should approve new Holy Cross School
NEWS RELEASE
Ted Arnott, MPP
Wellington-Halton Hills
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 22, 2013
Government should approve new Holy Cross School
(Queen’s Park) – The Ontario Government should approve funding for a new Holy Cross Catholic
School in Georgetown, says Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott.
In a statement in the Ontario Legislature on November 21, Mr. Arnott highlighted the need for a new
school and urged the Government to come through with the needed funding.
“In January of this year, the Ministry of Education announced funding for 87 capital projects,
including 39 new schools. They allocated $700 million to pay for these projects,” Mr. Arnott noted.
“Surely, there is room in a budget of this size to build the Halton Catholic District School Board’s
number one priority, a new Holy Cross Elementary School in Georgetown,” he continued.
Mr. Arnott also later pointed to page 123 of the Background Papers of the Ontario Economic Outlook
and Fiscal Review, released two weeks ago, which shows that the Provincial Government plans to
spend more than $2 billion on education infrastructure this fiscal year.
“If the Government is going to spent all this money on schools, surely they can plan to put money
towards Holy Cross,” he argued afterwards.
Since April, Mr. Arnott has been working with Halton Catholic District School Board Trustee Mark
Rowe to raise awareness of the need for a new school. Mr. Arnott has visited the school 3 times
this year to see the need firsthand.
Holy Cross School was built in the late 1950s. The school is in deteriorating condition and a recent
facility condition survey indicated that the building will require over $5 million in repairs over the next
8 years to maintain it in an acceptable condition. There is also insufficient room on the current site
to expand the school to support anticipated population growth in Georgetown.
“Recently, the Halton Catholic Board submitted its Capital Priorities Business Case, confirming a
new Holy Cross School as their number one priority,” Mr. Arnott told the Legislature. “The Board
has done its part. The need has been established. Our students, present and future, deserve a
decent learning environment, and I urge the Minister to approve funding for a new Holy Cross
School without delay.”
(Attached: Hansard record of Mr. Arnott’s statement in the Ontario Legislature, November 21, 2013)
– 30 –
Ted Arnott, MPP
Phone: 416-325-3880
Email: ted.arnott@pc.ola.org
Ontario Hansard – 21-November 2013
Mr. Ted Arnott: In January of this year, the Ministry of Education announced funding for 87 capital
projects, including 39 new schools. They allocated $700 million to pay for these projects. Going forward,
we can reasonably expect the Ministry of Education will be allocated funding to construct the new schools
that Ontario communities need, as has always been the case.
Surely there is room in a budget of this size to build the Halton Catholic District School Board’s number
one priority, a new Holy Cross elementary school in Georgetown. At the invitation of school board
officials, I have visited this school on three separate occasions this year: April 19, June 26 and September
17. The school has a caring professional staff and bright, enthusiastic students, but the physical state of
the school building itself, dating back to the late 1950s, can only be described as decrepit.
I first raised the need for a new Holy Cross school with the Minister of Education in May. I discussed it
with her, hand-delivering her a letter dated May 9, to inform her of our need. I followed up on May 29,
speaking in the Ontario Legislature, again expressing my support and urging the minister to support it as
well.
Recently, the Halton Catholic board submitted its capital priorities business case, confirming a new Holy
Cross school as their number one priority. The board has done its part. The need has been established. Our
students, present and future, deserve a decent learning environment, and I urge the minister to approve
funding for a new Holy Cross school without delay.