Île-des-Soeurs elementary school gets bigger in 2008

Mr. Gautrin made the announcement on behalf of the Minister of Education, Recreation and Sports and Family Minister, Mrs. Michelle Courchesne. The government’s assistance to this project is in line with the Three-year 2007-2010 Infrastructure Plan of the Ministry of Education, Recreation and Sports.

Mayor Claude Trudel was delighted with this announcement, which he said matches the willingness of Borough Council to offer young students in the primary levels an enriching environment close to their homes. It was one of the objectives set forth in the Family Policy adopted by the Borough. He says that the project will also improve the delivery of services to the local population, since in addition to re-arranging 12 classes, the project provides for the addition of multi-purpose rooms, a double gymnasium and a school library. These facilities will be community-oriented, and therefore accessible to all residents.

"Through this investment, we wish to demonstrate our intention to create a true community centre around the Île-des-Sœurs school and the Elgar Centre, where education, culture, sports and recreation services will be juxtaposed," Mayor Claude Trudel said.

For Marc Touchette who is overseeing this issue as school commissioner and as Borough councilor, said this announcement didn’t come too early, considering that there were concerns about limited places for students for the next school year. Other parts of his speech and other comments from Mayor Claude Trudel will be discussed in a separate article. The Mayor has been involved at several levels for this major project in his Borough.

The total cost of the expansion project amounts to $4,831,128.00. The government’s portion is $1,876,013.00 and the Marguerite-Bourgeoys School Board will contribute $1,600,000.00 while Verdun Borough will allocate $1,161,870.00. The balance of $193,245.00 will be financed through partial tax reimbursements.

The expansion will cover an additional ten classes, two areas for guard duty, a multi-purpose area, a double gymnasium and a municipal school library. "By creating new spaces at the school, the Quebec government is acting in a concrete manner in providing students with an educational milieu that is better adapted to their needs, thereby promoting their success and the development of their full potential," said Mr. Gautrin.

The expansion work should begin when school closes (June 2008) and the premises should be available to students at the end of August during the school year. This is a very short time frame, but it must be said that from now until the end of classes, all the technical stages of the project shall have been completed. The plans and specifications, tenders, agreements for landscaping and infrastructure could be completed by the School Board and Verdun Borough in the next few months.

Other than Deputy Gautrin, representatives from various government levels attended the press conference where the school expansion was announced. School director Diane Laborde was also present.

In another article, Le Magazine discusses other important points of this announcement as well as publishes excerpts of comments by key players in this project.