The French public elementary and high schools in Hearst are being merged into one K-to-12 school.
The province is putting up $7,000,000 to allow the high school to move out of rented space at l’Université de Hearst, into Ecole Passeport Jeunesse.
Conseil Scolaire Public de Nord-Est de l’Ontario director of education Yves Laliberté says Phase 1 will be conversion of part of the elementary school.
“Before the building was a school, it was a bingo room,” he notes. “It has quite a high ceiling. We had an evaluation made by architects that confirmed that we could transform it into classrooms on two floors.”
“And Phase 2 is to replace portable classrooms currently in the yard by probably an addition connected to the existing school.”
As you will hear in the audio below, the director expects the project to be complete in time for the 2026-27 school year.
