Two crumbling schools in Toronto are set to get total rebuilds and four others in need of serious repairs will get major facelifts, the Ontario government said Monday.

Education Minister Liz Sandals made the announcement at Davisville Junior Public School near Yonge Street and Davisville Avenue Monday morning, alongside area MPP and Health Minister Eric Hoskins, area councillor Josh Matlow and Ward 11 trustee Shelley Laskin.

“We’re very thrilled with the funding announcement from the ministry as a first step,” Laskin said. “We still have lots of issues within the Toronto District School Board, but it’s a good first step toward addressing some of our big capitol renewal costs.”

The funding is part of a $498 million investment to build 30 new schools and do major renovations or additions on 26 existing schools across the province.

It means that crumbling Davisville Jr PS will get a total rebuild.

“They are going to get a brand new school because unfortunately the current facilities are not up to par,” Laskin said. “This school was purpose-built for the Metro Toronto School for the deaf, so many of the rooms are very small. It’s also on the board’s list of prohibitive to repair, which means that the actual building systems are failing.”

Speaking with reporters, Hoskins joked that “you can almost see the sky” through a ceiling hole in the gym.

He also thanked the school’s principal and staff for sticking through “what’s been a long process” and said the school’s rebuilding has been a special cause for him.

“I know that there is much more work to be done and all kinds of great ideas percolating out there, but it’s an important milestone.”

The timeline for the construction of the new building has not yet been determined, but Laskin said the school board is hoping to have it complete by 2019 at the latest.

A new building will also be built for Cardinal Newman Catholic Secondary School in Cliffside.

Four other Toronto schools will receive money for major additions: St Clement Catholic School in Etobicoke, St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic School in Downsview, Norseman Junior Middle School in Etobicoke and Terry Fox Public School in Agincourt.

Sandals praised the business case put forth by the TDSB for the schools that will receive funding, noting that the ministry received four time the number of requests for funding that it was able to grant.

A full list of schools across the province that will receive funding for new builds or major renovations can be found here: