Plans for a new Kindergarten through Grade 12 school in Kingsville have been approved.
The final design for the Greater Essex County School Board's new school on Jasperson Lane near Kingsville Arena came in at $48-million.
Trustees unanimously approved the plan for the 197,000-sq.ft building at Tuesday night's board meeting, but not without a lengthy discussion.
Trustee Julia Burgess put forward a motion to defer the plan based a five-year-old funding estimate that was shot down by the board.
She says some residents have expressed concerns over items like narrow hallways and missing tech and meal prep rooms.
"Without going first to the ministry and asking whether or not we could have them recognize that five-year-old funding is not giving us the design to deliver what we promised," she adds.
In the end, Burgess voted to approve the plan, but says designing the school based on a funding estimate from 2016 doesn't seem fair.
"Even in the difference between last year and this year we don't know what tenders will be because I think the construction industry is in a different place and so is the supply chain and so are costs," she says.
Trustee Ron LeClair says a deferral could have killed the project.
"We certainly put at risk the $48-million that we have earmarked by the province if we go back to them cap in hand saying, yeah, that's not quite enough, because we want a servery or a hardwood floor in the gym," says LeClair.
The plan will now be sent to the Ministry of Education for final approval before a request for tender is sent out in the spring.
The new school will replace Kingsville District High School, Jack Miner Public School and Kingsville Public School and is expected to be completed by September of 2023.