BACOLOD City Schools Division Superintendent Cynthia Demavivas said Wednesday the Department of Education (DepEd) Central Office has already given them the permission to use the new Education and Training Center School (ETCS) building in Barangay 16.
Demavivas said they will use the building once it is secured, and there is already a budget for the construction of a perimeter fence from the Special Education Fund.
They plan to transfer the Grades 2 and 3 classes with double sessions to the new building by September or October this year, she said.
The new ETCS building has 36 classrooms at present. When it is finished, it is expected to have 48 classrooms.
The ETCS building was constructed on a two-hectare property of the city government at the reclamation area to help decongest the ETCS-I which has more than 2,000 pupils.
Bacolod City is the first city to avail of the matching agreement with the DepEd after former Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia and Education Secretary Armin Luistro entered into a memorandum of agreement under the 50/50 scheme on February 9, 2012.
Under the agreement, the city will construct 24 classrooms and the DepEd will also construct another 24 classrooms.