How on earth was $15.9-billion of disrepair allowed to accumulate in Ontario’s publicly funded schools? And how on earth can any provincial government that is responsible for publicly funded schools not have any metrics in place to measure important elements of our children’s learning environments such as classroom temperature, air quality, water quality, lunchrooms, and rodents/vermin? Those questions were top of mind when we developed the Fix Our Schools Pledge campaign leading up to the June 2018 Ontario election.

We’re proud to say that we convinced over 200 provincial candidates to sign the Fix Our Schools Pledge. We’re even more proud that of those candidates, 58 of all Ontario MPPs elected in June committed to developing a standard of good repair for Ontario schools and to providing the adequate, stable funding needed to ensure that all Ontario schools meet this new standard by 2022.  This represents a tangible way we can hold our elected representatives accountable to Fixing Ontario Schools! 

Some notable elected MPPs signed the Fix Our Schools Pledge…

Interested in seeing if your MPP made this personal commitment to safe, healthy, well-maintained school buildings by signing the Fix Our Schools Pledge? CLICK HERE

Dear MPP Surma,

Did you know there is $281.6-million of disrepair in the publicly funded schools in your riding of Etobicoke Centre? 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 Etobicoke Centre:

ÉÉP FélixLeclerc	$3,608,665
All Saints CS	$306,000
Father Serra CS	$2,047,838
Josyf Cardinal Slipyj CS (Leased from TDSB)	$4,097,340
Michael Power/St Joseph CSS (Lea frTDSB  Bill30)	$9,143,563
Mother Cabrini CS	$1,620,529
Nativity of Our Lord CS	$2,906,490
Our Lady of Peace CS	$1,928,198
St Clement CS	$1,653,193
St Demetrius CS (Leased from UKR CEC)	$1,535,535
St Eugene CS	$2,577,651
St Gregory CS	$914,463
St Marcellus CS	$2,444,004
Transfiguration CS	$2,550,098
Bloordale MS	$7,587,013
Bloorlea MS	$4,753,924
Briarcrest JS	$3,346,001
Broadacres JS	$4,498,325
Burnhamthorpe CI	$30,688,754
Central Etobicoke HS	$10,861,858
Dixon Grove JMS	$12,301,501
Eatonville JS	$3,410,119
Etobicoke CI	$9,875,558
Hilltop MS	$8,960,282
Hollycrest MS	$8,680,730
Humber Valley Village JMS	$3,486,853
John G Althouse MS	$7,216,600
Kipling CI	$18,359,442
Martingrove CI	$14,073,569
Mill Valley JS	$2,384,151
Millwood JS	$5,849,513
Princess Margaret JS	$4,834,091
Richview CI	$17,157,522
Scarlett Heights Entrepreneurial Academy	$11,248,054
Seneca School	$3,618,152
Silverthorn CI	$23,946,727
St George’s JS	$3,359,307
Valleyfield JS	$2,769,180
Wedgewood JS	$4,675,735
Wellesworth JS	$5,088,347
West Glen JS	$3,641,621
Westmount JS	$4,042,173
Westway JS	$3,509,597

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 ensure your government prioritizes 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. 

Dear MPP Parsa,

Did you know there is $45.9-million of disrepair in the publicly funded schools in your riding of Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill? 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 Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill:

Cardinal Carter C.H.S.	$4,700,215
Corpus Christi CES	$10,140
Father Frederick McGinn CES	$173,060
Father Henri J.M. Nouwen CES	$600,440
Holy Spirit CES	$2,041,512
Light of Christ CES	$932,440
Our Lady Help of Christians CES	$211,800
Our Lady of Grace CES	$2,252,973
Our Lady of Hope CES	$68,242
Our Lady of the Annunciation CES	$1,045,231
St. Joseph (Aurora) CES	$3,194,036
St. Marguerite d’Youville CES	$78,660
St. Theresa of Lisieux CHS	$20,280
Aurora Grove PS	$339,792
Aurora HS	$3,970,780
Bond Lake PS	$152,300
Dr G W Williams SS	$9,805,667
H G Bernard PS	$550,877
Highview PS	$2,178,678
Lake Wilcox PS	$641,266
MacLeod’s Landing PS	$521,504
Moraine Hills PS	$711,170
Oak Ridges PS	$709,834
Redstone PS	$422,508
Regency Acres PS	$1,279,812
Richmond Green SS	$1,367,034
Richmond Hill HS	$1,722,311
Silver Pines PS	$2,384,179
Silver Stream PS	$197,625
Trillium Woods PS	$115,136
Wellington PS	$3,070,236
Windham Ridge PS	$446,974

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 ensure your government prioritizes 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. 

Definition of Efficiency: Doing things right; accomplishing something with the least waste of time, effort, money; competency in performance.

Definition of Effectiveness: Doing the right things; the degree to which objectives are achieved and the extent to which targeted problems are solved. 

Ideally, business and government ought to strive to be both efficient and effective. However, if efficiency is the primary goal, with little regard for effectiveness, things can go off the rails. For instance, I think we’d all agree that if a company has reduced waste and streamlined its production processes but is focused on making rotary-dial phones in 2018, this company will not ultimately be very successful! By focusing on maximizing efficiency with no regard for effectiveness, they are efficiently producing a product that is not wanted or needed in today’s environment. 

So when Fix Our Schools read through this year’s Education Funding Guide, issued by the Ministry of Education to obtain input into the 2019-20 education funding model in Ontario, we were very concerned to see such a huge emphasis on efficiency (doing things right) with very little regard given to effectiveness (doing the right things to achieve educational objectives). Although the word effective is used in the introduction and conclusion of the Funding Guide, it is not mentioned once in the “meat” of the document, which outlines what this government is actually seeking input on. 

What do you think about the direction Doug Ford’s government is taking in obtaining feedback that will guide the upcoming school year’s funding? Do you share our concern that efficiency without real consideration for effectiveness is a worrisome goal?