Extending P3 school leases for 8 months to cost $1.5M

The Nova Scotia government will pay $1.5 million to extend the leases of three P3 schools by eight months while the local school board reviews the sites.

Earlier this week, cabinet signed off on paying the money to extend the leases with Ashford Investments Inc. for Antigonish Education Centre, Bayview Education Centre and Dalbrae Academy.

Education Minister Karen Casey told reporters in Halifax on Thursday that officials at the Strait Regional School Board still need to do reviews for the three schools to determine if they need them. Until recently, she said, the board thought simply extending the leases by five or 10 years was a possibility, but it is not.

Final 3 schools to be reviewed

"The partner was willing to give us that [eight-month] extension," said Casey.

The contracts for the 39 P3 schools were signed in 1999 and the time has come for the government to begin notifying its partners of its intentions for the buildings. Earlier this year, the government started providing notice of whether it would buy the schools, renew the leases or walk away.

The three schools in the Strait area are the last that need to be reviewed, said Casey. Ashford owns 13 other schools and the board has already determined it needs those locations. The only remaining decision for those schools is whether the province buys them or extends the leases.

Previous extensions were different

The province previously got extensions from another private partner, but in that case the only thing extended was the date by which the government had to decide what to do with the buildings. There was no cost for that change, but in this most recent case the review process will keep students in the building beyond the life of the original contract.

"That's why there's a cost to that," said Casey. "In order to do that we have to pay the lease for that."

It's been known for years this point in the agreements would come, but Casey said it would have been difficult to make a decision much sooner.

Need to have 'the most current and relevant data'

"Five years ago it would have been difficult to predict what the needs would be in those particular communities," she said.

"We need to get as close to the decision date as possible to have the most current and relevant data."

The minister acknowledged a review could have happened in the last year or two, but restated the board's incorrect assumption a short-term lease renewal was possible.