News Release – Ontario Government Building New School in Windsor
James L. Dunn Public School will open this Fall
Today, Andrew Dowie, MPP for Windsor—Tecumseh announced that construction of James L. Dunn Public School is now complete and will be welcoming students this September for the 2022-23 school year. This project is a part of Ontario’s ongoing efforts to build and improve local schools, with the province providing Greater Essex County District School Board with $15.4 million to build the new school in Windsor.
The Government of Ontario is delivering more than $26.6 billion in education funding for the 2022-23 school year, including an increase of over $600 million this September, which is the highest investment in public education in Ontario’s history. Investing in the province’s schools is an integral part of Ontario’s Plan to Catch Up, which is squarely focused on the priorities of parents and includes five key components:
- Kids being back in the classroom, on time with a full school experience that includes extracurriculars like sports, band and field trips;
- Investing more than $175 million for enhanced tutoring support programs delivered by school boards and community partners, with a focus on reading, writing and math;
- Updating the curriculum to prepare students for the jobs of tomorrow, including opportunities in the skilled trades;
- Providing more money to build schools and improve education; and
- Allocating $90 million – the highest amount in Ontario history, and a 420 per cent increase from 2017-18 – to support student mental health.
This project will deliver over 640 student spaces. The investment is part of the Ontario government’s commitment to providing $14 billion to support school construction over 10 years. Since 2018, the government has approved nearly 200 school construction projects and development of more than 300 child care and education building-related projects, of which more than 100 are actively under construction.
“The completion of the new James L. Dunn Public School is exciting news for our community as we continue to support new, modern schools for students in Windsor,” said Andrew Dowie, MPP for Windsor—Tecumseh. “This investment will ensure families and students have access to a quality learning environment in the years ahead.”
“Our government is investing $14 billion over ten years to build new schools, improve existing facilities and create child care spaces to ensure young people can reach their full potential,” said Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education. “By building the new James L. Dunn Public School as well as investing in tutoring and mental health supports for the year ahead, we are getting students in Windsor back on track now and well into the future. While we make progress building this new school for Windsor to support hard-working parents, we remain committed to keeping students in class this September in more normal classrooms with extra curriculars, sports, and clubs.”
“Under Premier Ford’s leadership, we’re building more state-of-the-art schools to support the needs of Ontario’s students, families and growing communities. By investing in innovative and modern learning spaces, we’re ensuring students have access to the quality education that will provide them with lifelong skills and education in a safe and healthy environment,” said Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure. “These investments are one of the ways we’re delivering on our promise to build Ontario, with an infrastructure budget of more than $148 billion over the next decade.”
Highlights of the project include:
- 645 new student spaces
- 4 child care rooms
- 73 new child care spaces
“James L. Dunn PS is a unique building combining old and new architecture. We are excited for everyone to see it and we are very grateful to the government of Ontario and the Ministry of Education for supporting our students, staff and the entire school community.” said Director of Education Erin Kelly.
James L. Dunn Public School is located at 1167 Mercer St in Windsor.
Quick Facts:
- Since 2018, the Ontario government has invested over $2.0 billion in capital projects in education, including 100 new schools, 88 additions and renovations to existing facilities and 6,410 new licensed child care spaces.
- For 2022-23, the province is providing school boards with $1.4 billion in funding to renew and maintain existing schools.
- Through the Covid-19 Resilience stream of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program, the governments of Canada and Ontario are providing $656.5 million in funding for critical infrastructure projects to protect students and staff from COVID-19 in the province’s schools.
- In March 2022, the Governments of Canada and Ontario signed a $13.2 billion agreement that will lower child care fees in stages for families, delivering an average of $10 a day child care by September 2025.
| MEDIA CONTACTS Paul Synnott Executive Assistant Andrew Dowie, MPP Windsor-Tecumseh Ph: 519-251-0437 Cell: 226-724-6978 Email: paul.synnott@pc.ola.org | |