Building & Modernizing Schools
School Maintenance & Renewal
Each year, the provincial government announces funding levels under its Maintenance & Renewal Programs for the purpose of investing in the repair and replacement of major facility components.
The provincial
School Capital Manual outlines that school jurisdictions must use Maintenance & Renewal funding to:
- ensure school facilities meet all regulatory requirements, particularly as they pertain to providing a safe and healthy learning environment;
- preserve and improve the quality of the learning environment by:
- replacing building components that have failed;
- prolonging the life of the school facility through planned, proactive replacement of major components; and
- upgrading of the educational areas to meet programming requirements.
- meet the facility requirements of students with special needs; and
- replace or upgrade building components to improve energy conservation and efficiency and to achieve cost savings as a result.
Funding from Maintenance & Renewal programs is
NOT to be used for major capital projects, including the addition of permanent or modular school spaces.
There are currently two
Maintenance & Renewal programs available to school authorities:
-
Infrastructure maintenance and renewal: provided based on the school year (Sept. 1 to Aug. 31), which is allocated to school jurisdictions on a formula basis. Infrastructure maintenance and renewal projects must meet the above criteria and the expenditures may be capitalized or expensed; and
-
Capital maintenance and renewal: provided based on the Government of Alberta fiscal year (April 1 to March 31) and is project specific but still allocated on a formula basis. Besides meeting the above criteria, capital maintenance and renewal projects must be capitalized and cannot be expensed.
