In the second of a two-part investigative series in Toronto.com entitled, Deteriorating Schools reporters Cynthia Reason and Tamara Shephard explore what it will take to reduce the repair backlog in our publicly funded schools.
Krista Wylie, one of the co-founders of Fix Our Schools, said that while “it is frustrating to see so many publicly funded Ontario schools in such a visible state of disrepair, the disrepair in Ontario’s schools that is invisible is actually what concerns me more: the fire exit hardware that is broken, the wet gymnasium ceiling about to fall, the structural beams in need of replacement, the mould impacting my child’s health.”
TDSB student trustee Amin Ali, 17, knows firsthand the disrepair in schools. He recollected, “I can think back to my Grade 8 science class, where a rainstorm hit and it completely flooded our classroom due to a deteriorating roof. More recently, in the fall, I had to switch seats in my Grade 12 law class as water from leaks in the ceiling kept dripping onto my notes and tests.”
Photo of a leaking ceiling in the classroom of an anonymous Toronto school.
Currently, provincial funding is $1.4-billion/year for school repairs but that isn’t enough to start to reduce the $15.9 billion of disrepair in Ontario’s publicly funded schools, experts agreed.
The article explores what it would take to eliminate the gob-smacking $15.9-billion of disrepair in Ontario’s publicly funded schools:
In a report entitled “Ontario’s Deteriorating Schools – the Fix is Not In“, Economist Hugh Mackenzie proposes that an additional $1.6-billion/year for the next seven years is required to eliminate the backlog.
Did you know that in #Ontario, property taxes do NOT go to YOUR school board? Regardless of the box you've checked off on your taxes, they support ALL FOUR publicly funded boards: secular English & French, Catholic Eng & Fre. Education funding is fully controlled by the Province. pic.twitter.com/8kpgu6qkoC
— Fix Our Schools (@Fix_Our_Schools) February 2, 2019
Infrastructure “isn’t sexy,” which worsens the “eternal problem” of billions of dollars of repair backlog in publicly funded Ontario schools, said Annie Kidder, executive director and founder of People for Education, said that “integration across levels of government could help turn the school repairs backlog tide. We need planning and integration of public buildings for use by families, children, young people, seniors. How do we share the costs among all people who use them? How are we thinking about our public infrastructure? How are we using it? How do we fund it more wisely?”
Steve Shaw, TDSB’s executive officer of facility services and planning, had the following to say about how critical it is for the provincial government to provide adequate, stable funding to school boards for school repairs: “The lack of predictable funding is really the problem for boards across the province. If we knew we were getting $250 million over the next five years, we could do proactive planning, get work done and do things in this order. We can’t do that not knowing year to year what our funding will be.”
The Ontario Student Trustees’ Association has weighed in with solutions as well, recommending that the Ford government extend a special, multiyear capital funding program, set to expire at the end of this school year.
Many solutions are presented by many different stakeholders in this thoughtful, well-researched article. On April 11, the provincial budget gets released and we will see if our provincial government prioritizes the issue of disrepair in Ontario’s schools. Fingers crossed!