CORNWALL, Ontario – Since 1998 students at Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School (CCVS) have benefitted from bursary awards bequeathed to the school by the estate of Dr. Arthur Battista. Now, with CCVS slated for closure that money might be in jeopardy.
According to CCVS Principal Christian Boulay, the money is managed by a Knights of Columbus Council in New Haven, CT.
He has said that from what he understands, the money in the Battista bursary fund is bequeathed to CCVS and cannot be transferred to any other school.
On March 23, 2017 the Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB) voted to close CCVS as a part of their Pupil Accommodation Review. In accordance with that decision, CCVS would be amalgamated with St. Lawrence Secondary School and a new $39 million super school would be built to house the combined student population.
It is still early days and it is currently unknown where this new super school will be and what it will be named, but according to Boulay, if the new school is not named CCVS, then it is possible that Battista bursaries will be discontinued.
Arthur Battista was an alumnus of CCVS who went on to become a successful doctor in the United States. He bequeathed to the school a significant amount of money.
Every year since 1998 the school has given away money from that fund to graduating students. From each graduating class 15 students who are going onto college receive $3, 000 each from the fund and an additional 15 students who are going onto university receive $4, 000 each. That means that the school has awarded $105, 000 a year for nearly two decades; that is nearly $2 million since 1998. Principal Boulay says that the money for these bursaries comes from the interest that the principal investment made by the estate of Arthur Battista accumulates.
It is unknown what would happen to that money if it is not given out to the new Cornwall school if that school is not named CCVS.
