MELFORT — The North East School Division (NESD) board has approved $200,000 to replace several sections of the roof on Melfort’s Reynolds Central School.
The division previously allocated $85,000 for the roof replacement, which would cover four sections.
According to a report to the board, the original budget used was based on information from a local contractor. In this budget, they had used a residential per square meter rate for the estimate, where a commercial rate should have been used.
After engineering drawings were completed, a more accurate budget was determined to be $200,000, with eight sections needing maintenance or replacement.
“Close to half our schools are more than 50 years old, so this is just part of the regular replacement and repair program we have to manage across the school division,” said Don Rempel, NESD’s director of education.
“We just had to update the board on the increased cost in our assessment of what we can do for the roof.”
The work is estimated to be completed within the budget year with no school cancellations as a result.
The funds will come out of the division’s preventative maintenance and renewal (PMR) funds. The PMR program has provided the NESD with approximately $1.7 million in 2019-2020.
In the 2020-21 fiscal year the board has approved projects totaling $1,275,760.
