We learned in November 2019 that the total repair backlog in Ontario’s publicly funded schools had increased from $15.9-billion in October 2017 (the last time our provincial government publicly released disrepair data) to an unbelievable $16.3-billion, proving that the current provincial funding approach for school infrastructure is simply insufficient.
This is an unfathomably large number and reflects assessments made by a third-party engineering firm hired by the provincial government about what building components in each school need to be repaired or replaced in the coming five years. Items such as roofs, structural columns, windows, fire alarm and suppression systems, bricks, and boilers would all be reflected in this $16.3-billion repair backlog.
However, what is missing from this $16.3-billion repair backlog?
- Work that needs to be done on schools to make them accessible for all students. Let’s consider only one aspect of accessibility for a moment – the ability for a student to get to their classroom and participate fully in a rotary class schedule. Elevators are a rarity in Ontario’s schools, so it is challenging or impossible for students on crutches or in wheelchairs to attend school.
An Ontario scattered with "soul-crushing barriers" as @HonDavidOnley describes is unacceptable. We can't keep moving at a sluggish pace towards making Ontario fully accessible by 2025, our motion today is the urgent action we need. #onpoli https://t.co/JVPVT43AXV
— Joel Harden (@JoelHardenONDP) May 30, 2019
- Work that ends up needing to be done reactively and was not logged as expected maintenance. This eventuality happens all the time – especially with roof leaks after a big weather event and school boards simply have to deal with these issues reactively with no additional provincial funding provided to address the unexpected repairs.
- Work that needs to be done on playgrounds and fields.
- Work that needs to be done on portables. Somehow, disrepair in portables is never assessed or logged by our provincial government. The rationale for this gross ommission is that portables are intended to be temporary structures. However, we all know examples in our community where portables become permanent features on a school site so these structures ought to be assessed every time its associated school building is assessed.
- Work that needs to be done to remove or abate asbestos when doing other work. Often, school boards are admonished because costs of repairs seem higher than expected. However, frequently, when a repair on an old school is embarked upon, asbestos is discovered and then must be addressed.
- Work that needs to be done to ensure classroom temperatures are steady and reasonable all year long. The dollar amount required for school boards to implement cooling solutions so that our students are not forced to learn in 35-degree classrooms is completely absent from the $16.3-billion repair backlog figure. The same can be said for work to be done to ensure that all classrooms in a school are suitably heated during the winter.
- Work that needs to be done to address lead in drinking water in schools.
For years now, Fix Our Schools has been asking the provincial government to develop and implement a standard of good repair for our schools that considers all of the above “missing items. This standard would serve as a yardstick by which we could ensure that school buildings in this province are all safe, healthy, well-maintained buildings that provide dignified environments for all children to learn. We believe that all Ontarians would agree that the missing items listed above are all important elements for buildings where 2-million Ontario children spend their days. So far, our call to action for a standard of good repair has been ignored so our work continues to focus on this need.