(Queen's Park) – Simcoe North MPP Garfield Dunlop announced today that the Simcoe County District School Board will receive new funding from the Eves government to replace Parkview Public School in Midland and Mount Slaven Public School in Orillia.

"This is great news for the teachers, parents, children and communities associated with these elementary schools," said Dunlop. "I am also pleased that one of my 10-year goals in the Vision 2013 Action Plan I released on April 3 has already been achieved: the upgrade or replacement of Parkview in Midland."

The Simcoe County District School Board is one of 24 school boards in Ontario that will receive a part of $12.4 million in 2003-04 to construct replacement schools. This funding is part of a $25 million investment for new state-of-the-art school facilities and will support approximately $120 million in total construction projects.

Under an assessment program announced in the 2002 provincial budget, qualified building professionals are inspecting every school in the province. Although assessments are still under way, 34 Ontario schools have already been identified where the cost of repairs would be prohibitive. The balance of funding to finance replacement schools will be allocated when the assessment program is completed later this year.

Contact:
Garfield Dunlop
(705) 327-4500 (cell)