Parents at Balaclava Elementary School in Carlisle, Ontario have declared the school “looks like a nightmare” and “is in a desperate state of repair”.
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In a March 22, 2019 article in the Flamborough Review entitled, “It looks like a nightmare: Leaks soak Carlisle school as parents beg for upgrades”, parents cited the following issues at their children’s school, where extreme winter weather has led to numerous leaks in the school roof:
- Buckets lining the hallways to collect drips, posing a fire hazard
- Water pooling in fluorescent lights and running into electrical wiring
- Fire alarms being triggered by moisture, and subsequently being turned off to prevent false alarms
- Mould forming in ceiling tiles
- Lack of potable water
- Library books being covered in tarps to prevent water damage
- Washrooms reeking of urine
“It looks like an episode of The Walking Dead when you go in there,” said Brian Orlowski, whose five- and seven-year-old children attend the school. “It looks like a nightmare. It’s horrendous.”
Balaclava Elementary School was built in 1989, making it only 30 years old. According to Ministry data, Balaclava School has approximately $791,000 of disrepair as of Fall 2017 (the last time Ministry data was updated and released). The Facilities Condition Index at Balaclava is noted at only 10% – a figure that generally indicates a building in fairly good condition.
Two-thirds of publicly funded schools in this province are greater than 30 years old and a total of $15.9-billion of disrepair plagues Ontario’s schools. Many, many schools across the province have over $1-million of disrepair and, according to Ministry data, over 60 schools in Ontario have in excess of $20-million of disrepair. This absolutely begs the question that if a school with $791,000 of disrepair is a “nightmare” (and it certainly sounds like it is!), what must a school with over $20-million of disrepair feel like to students, teachers and education staff?
“Over the past three-plus years, Balaclava Public School has become a dangerous place for our children and the staff,” say parents.
One parent noted that “all of us have been looking the other way because we like the school – my kids like going there. But lately, it’s been really bad, where you have to ask yourself, ‘Ultimately, is it safe?’”
Balaclava is part of the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, which has over $450-million of disrepair in its schools due to decades of chronic and gross provincial underfunding.