The education minister has announced $655 million to renovate run-down schools in Quebec.

Of that, $240 million will go to Montreal-area schools.

The investment is a 78 per cent increase over last year, and Education Minister Sebastien Proulx called it a real need.

Proulx made the announcement Friday at a Sainte-Bibiane School in Rosemont, which had to close its doors three years ago due to its poor condition.

Those students were required to move to other schools in the area, posing problems of overcrowding and busing kids further away.

The case is not unique by any means.

Sainte-Bibiane will undergo a major renovation, including the demolition and reconstruction of part of the building.

Other schools will also undergo renovation and maintenance including, upgrading buildings, repairing roofs, replacing doors, windows and washrooms, and upgrading the heating, ventilation and plumbing.

The ministry did not detail the work that would be done or list all the schools that would benefit from the investments, saying they wanted to let the school boards announce the projects themselves.

Five school boards on the Island of Montreal will share a total of $240,595,213, and will carry out 560 infrastructure projects.

The $655 million includes a payment of $2.5 million for the Commission scolaire des Hautes-Rivières and $14.3 million for the Commission scolaire de Montréal, who have already completed 35 projects where a postponement of work could have compromised the health and safety of the occupants or ended student services, the ministry said.

The money only goes toward fixing buildings, not for new investment. The Lester B. Pearson School Board Chair Suanne Stein Day pointed out that they are getting a relatively small share of the money for that reason.

“Yes, we’re getting a lot less because our buildings are in better shape. I’d like to see the reverse of that, though. Because we’re maintaining the building so well in a preventative manner, perhaps we could benefit from some other grants that help us with technology infrastructures or some of the future-ready schools, that we’re already doing through private grants and the like, but we’d like to do more of that,” said Stein Day.

Proulx said he will announce a new digital strategy to modernize the school system next fall.

With a report from The Canadian Press