Monthly Archives: September 2018

Wow! Fix Our Schools Supporters are AMAZING!

September 22, 2018

What amazing supporters we have! You have made real change possible. As a large, connected network, we’ve been able to:

Increase annual provincial funding for school repairs from $150-million/year to $1.4-billion/year.
Convince the Ministry of Education to release school disrepair data and update this powerful information annually.
Obtain the personal commitment of 58 newly elected MPPs to develop a standard of good repair for Ontario schools and to commit the adequate, stable funding needed to achieve those standards.

You photograph disgusting conditions at your local schools, send us riveting stories, petition your local politicians and engage with us on social media, which amplifies our message. Together we achieve more. THANK YOU!

When Fix Our Schools began in 2014 in the west end of Toronto, we naively thought disrepair in schools and substandard learning conditions were only a local issue.

By 2015, we realized that every single one of Ontario’s school boards was negatively impacted by school disrepair. In fact, we uncovered that there was a total repair backlog of $15-billion in Ontario’s schools. That amount has grown over time, and continues to grow.

Thankfully, we have discovered that people across the province care deeply about this issue and our base of support also continues to grow each day. Together, we will continue to make real change on the issue of disrepair in Ontario’s schools. Together, we will truly Fix Our Schools.

Frustrated students plan a walkout to protest Ford government

September 20, 2018

Students are frustrated by the actions of Doug Ford’s government relative to publicly funded education, as is evident by the following email that was sent out by a Principal of a high school:

Dear Parents, Guardians, Students and Staff,

We have been made aware of a province-wide student organized walk-out protesting:

a) changes to the elementary sex education curriculum;

b) cancellation of curriculum writing from an indigenous perspective; and

c) funding cancellation for school repairs (vis a vis the carbon tax cancellation).

The information we have received indicates that students participating will leave classes from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. They will peacefully protest by congregating on the sports field with their peers. I have also been informed that other students who do not wish to leave class may be wearing purple shirts in support of the student-organized initiative.

As indicated, this walkout has been organized by students for students. While not a school or TDSB organized event, the school and the TDSB recognizes the importance of student voice. Student safety is also of utmost concern from a school and a TDSB perspective. As such I encourage parents/guardians and to discuss personal safety with their child(ren) as related to this walkout. Most of our teachers will be in class teaching during the walkout, though we will be assigning those few who are not teaching to oversee those participating. We will also make our local police division aware of the anticipated events. Again as this walkout is not organized by the school we have no idea how many of our students may be participating. We are also unaware of how the media may cover this walkout either at our school, in the city or provincially.

I encourage students and parents/guardians to speak with one another about the issues being protested, and for students to share their intention to walkout (or not) with their parents/guardians.

I appreciate the support of our community with this matter.

MPP Khanjin: $36.2-M of Disrepair in Barrie-Innisfil Schools

September 10, 2018

Dear MPP Khanjin,

Did you know there is $36.2-million of disrepair in the publicly funded schools in your riding of Barrie-Innisfil? We wanted to share the following details of disrepair in each school in your riding in the hope that this detailed information would underscore the importance of developing standards of good repair for Ontario schools and also the importance of providing the adequate, stable provincial funding to school boards required for them to meet those new standards and eliminate the $15.9-billion repair backlog that plagues Ontario’s schools:

Total disrepair in each publicly funded school in Barrie-Innisfil:

ÉÉP La Source	$447,363
ÉSP Roméo Dallaire	$243,131
Alcona Glen ES	$388,616
Algonquin Ridge ES	$1,156,476
Allandale Heights PS	$1,261,418
Andrew Hunter ES	$957,335
Assikinack PS	$572,338
Bear Creek Secondary School	$1,170,445
Ferndale Woods ES	$437,250
Goodfellow PS	$1,898,592
Holly Meadows	$1,309,272
Innisdale SS	$5,840,739
Innisfil Central PS	$2,020,091
Killarney Beach PS	$1,060,441
Nantyr Shores	$1,075,347
Sunnybrae PS	$1,120,166
Trillium Woods	$270,528
W. C. Little Elementary School	$1,368,197
Holy Cross	$321,661
St Francis of Assisi	$128,937
St John Vianney	$886,515
St Nicholas	$490,726
St Peter’s	$2,506,060
St. Catherine of Siena	$115,342
St. Joan of Arc	$1,132,537
St. John Paul II	$1,182,207
St. Michael the Archangel	$83,885

School conditions matter. They impact student learning, attendance, and health.

We commend you for personally signing the Fix Our Schools Pledge leading up to the June election and ask that you and your government please prioritize schools as critical infrastructure. Please take the steps necessary to ensure that the disrepair in all of Ontario’s publicly funded schools is eliminated and that schools are safe, healthy, well-maintained buildings that provide environments conducive to learning and working. We look forward to hearing back from you with details on your plan to Fix Ontario’s Schools.

PLEASE NOTE: Fix Our Schools is relying on the most recent disrepair data provided by the Ministry of Education in Fall 2017 and has mapped postal codes provided by the Ministry for each school to riding postal code information from a third party. Therefore, it is possible that there may be small errors in the data provided here and we would be grateful if community members would contact us with any errors.

Minister Fedeli: $96-M of Disrepair in Nipissing Schools

September 8, 2018

Dear Minister Fedeli,

Did you know there is $96-million of disrepair in the publicly funded schools in your riding of Nipissing? We wanted to share the following details of disrepair in each school in your riding in the hope that this detailed information would underscore the importance of developing standards of good repair for Ontario schools and also the importance of providing the adequate, stable provincial funding to school boards required for them to meet those new standards and eliminate the $15.9-billion repair backlog that plagues Ontario’s schools:

Total disrepair in each publicly funded school in Nipissing:

Alliance French Immersion PS	$1,786,743
Chippewa SS	$11,257,969
E T Carmichael PS	$1,597,674
E W Norman PS	$1,978,033
F J McElligott SS	$1,733,248
Ferris Glen PS	$1,022,368
Laurentian Learning Centre	$1,199,048
M T Davidson S	$448,818
Mapleridge Sr PS	$2,298,955
Mattawa District PS	$1,733,019
Phelps Central School	$2,083,876
Silver Birches Public School	$790,155
South Shore Education Centre	$176,553
Sunset Park PS	$1,420,412
Vincent Massey P.S.	$116,910
W J Fricker Sr PS	$2,852,526
West Ferris SS	$10,865,376
Widdifield Secondary School	$8,828,782
ÉÉC Lorrain	$2,272,855
ÉÉC SaintRaymond	$2,768,778
ÉÉC SaintsAnges	$1,339,535
ÉÉC SaintVincent	$1,274,699
ÉSC Algonquin	$11,914,946
ÉÉP Héritage	$165,951
ÉSP l’Odyssée	$706,830
Holy Cross Catholic School	$1,191,246
Mother St Bride Sep S	$2,827,154
Our Lady of Fatima Sep S	$2,829,092
St Hubert Sep S	$4,615,179
St. Alexander Sep S	$2,346,499
St. Francis Sep S	$1,689,547
St. Gregory Sep S	$1,207,487
St. JosephScollard Hall Sep S	$6,501,198
St. Theresa Sep S	$133,950

School conditions matter. They impact student learning, attendance, and health.