Trustees 'beyond discouraged' by lack of funding for Catholic Central

Officials at the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board are baffled as to why the ministry has decided to build two new schools in the region, but not offered funding to rebuild Catholic Central High School.

The province announced plans this week to spend $498 million on various school-related projects across Ontario, including the construction of new schools in Windsor and Tecumseh.

But neither of the new schools that will be built are Catholic Central.

• Ontario announces $498M in funding to build 30 new schools

• Windsor, Tecumseh getting new schools

Barb Holland, the Catholic school board chair, told CBC Radio's Windsor Morning that the community has been waiting for years to replace the aging Catholic Central, which is now well into its ninth decade of use.

"We are beyond discouraged at this point and time, a little bit angry and very upset for the community that we represent," Holland said Tuesday.

"They have been very patient. They have been waiting about seven years,"she added. "This school and the building of a new Catholic Central has been a priority for the board for at least seven years."

Holland said Catholic Central is "no longer a useful school building for our kids."

The school board chair said she and other officials have been reaching out to the ministry and other elected representatives to try and find out why Catholic Central did not make the cut for the provincial funding that was announced on Monday.

"Nothing really makes sense,"said Holland.

Holland said she is trying to arrange a meeting with Windsor MPP Lisa Gretzky, who is the education critic for the provincial NDP.

"We would like to know: Why has this school has been overlooked again?"she said.