Province to buy 10 public-private partnership schools for $49.3M

The Nova Scotia government is buying 10 public-private partnership schoolsfrom developers Nova Learning and Ashford Investment for $49.3 million dollars, saying it's cheaper to own these buildings than to continue to lease them.

Each of the schools will stayopen because the school boards in those communities have told the province there is a need for them.

Nova Scotia is buying the following AshfordInvestment schools for close to $16.1 million:

• Antigonish Education Centre, Antigonish
• Bayview Education Centre, Port Hood
• Dalbrae Academy, Mabou

Nova Scotia is buying the following schools from Nova Learning for about $33.2 million:

• Maple Ridge Elementary Elementary School, Lantz
• Meadowfields Community School, Yarmouth
• Champlain Elementary School, Granville Ferry
• Forest Ridge Academy, Barrington
• BayviewCommunity School, Mahone Bay
• Pine Ridge Middle School, Kingston
• Northeast Kings Education Centre, Canning

The leases forthese schools will expire between 2019 and 2021.

The province signed agreements with four developers in 1998 to lease 39 public-private partnership schools (also known as P3 schools) for 20 years.

Through a review process, the school boards confirmed 37 of the 39 schools are still needed. The two remaining school buildingswill be surrendered to thedeveloper.

The cost of buying 37 schools which includes the 10 announced Wednesday is $215.9 million.

Public-private partnerships panned

The latestpurchasesendthe partnership between the province and the developers, a partnership thathasbeen criticizedfor years.

In 2010, Nova Scotia's auditor general at the time said school boards were delivering the services at a lower cost than what was paid to the developers. The auditor general, Jacques Lapointe,said the province could have saved $52 million if it had builtschools the traditional way.

Last year,the province bought two public-private partnership schoolsO'ConnellDrive Elementary School in Porters Lake and Riverside Education Centre in Milford which will be turned over to the government in July 2018 when the leasesexpire.