Province approves funding for new Catholic school in west Kingston

The Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board has received approval from the province to tender a new Kingston West Catholic Elementary School.

The new school will include new child care rooms and an EarlyON Child and Family Centre, in addition to over 450 elementary student spaces. The investment from the province totals $16.8 million. According to a release from the province, this project is part of the their capital investment program to support students with better learning spaces.

“After a decade of school closures in Ontario, our government knows that families in Kingston deserve modern and accessible classrooms,” said Education Minister Stephen Lecce. “Thanks to the strong advocacy of local families, the construction of the new Kingston West Catholic Elementary School will improve learning for over 450 students with state-of-the-art classrooms, new child care spaces, and an EarlyON Child and Family
Centre.”

In addition, to support parents with the cost of child care and help them re-enter the workforce, Ontario is providing a 20 per cent enhancement of the Childcare Access and Relief from Expenses (CARE) tax credit for 2021, according to the release. This will increase support from $1,250 to $1,500 per family, on average, providing about $75 million in additional support for the 2021 child care expenses of over 300,000 families.

The Ontario government said they are also providing more than $1.6 billion in targeted COVID-19 resources across the province for the upcoming school year. This funding is for a range of supports including mental health, reading, and math supports for Ontario students.

Highlights of the new school construction include:
• 481 elementary student spaces.
• 73 new licensed child care spaces.
• 4 new child care rooms.
• 3 new EarlyON Child and Family Centre rooms.

Kingston West Catholic Elementary School will be located at 386 Holden Street in Kingston.