Additional funding revealed for south end high school

The Upper Grand District School Board will receive an additional $37 million of funding from the Ministry of Education for two new schools.

It was announced Thursday in a UGDSB press release, though dollar amounts weren't included..

“The additional funding helps to cover the cost increases since the initial project approval,” said Megan Sicoli, UGDSB communications administrative officer, in an email.

The total funding to cover the construction of both schools is $79.7 million.

The schools receiving the additional funding are the Centre Wellington elementary school site in the Fergus Storybrook subdivision and the south Guelph secondary school at Arkell and Victoria roads.

The Centre Wellington school will receive an additional $1,907,028 of funding and the new Guelph high school will receive $35,621,723.

The Centre Wellington school received an approved building permit and its target opening is the 2025/2026 school year. It will hold 308 people from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8.

The initial funding approved by the ministry was $8.5 million in January 2022. It increased to $16.7 million in 2023.

The total including the new additional funding is $18.6 million.

UGDSB continues to work with the City of Guelph to obtain a building permit for the Guelph secondary school. “Should there be no delays in obtaining the building permit, we will be on track to open the new school in September 2026,” stated in the release.

The initial cost of the 900 pupil school was $25.5 million with a September 2022 opening date. The school was approved in January 2018 by the province.

The total including the new additional funding is $61.1 million.

“Our government is listening to hard-working moms and dads, which is why we are delivering two new, state-of-the-art projects: the south Guelph secondary school and the Centre Wellington elementary school for Guelph and Centre Wellington families, along with increasing funding, staffing and a back-to-basics focus on reading, writing and math to help ensure students graduate with the fundamental skills they need to succeed,” said Todd Smith, education minister, in the release.