Parents expect their children’s schools to be safe, healthy, and well-maintained. Parents do not expect their children to be learning in environments where:
- Water has entered light fixtures, causing a risk of shock and fire hazard
- There are so many leaks that 35 buckets are lining the school halls
- The fire alarm system was not functioning properly due to moisture
- Ceiling tiles covered with mould are being cut away
And yet, those are some of the conditions described at Balaclava Elementary in March, 2019. Since founding the Fix Our Schools campaign five years ago, we’ve never seen parents as courageous and bold in calling out the unacceptable disrepair at their children’s school as those at Balaclava Elementary School.
https://twitter.com/geri_hall/status/1109148834033209345
Kudos to all of these parents for being so incredibly candid, for sharing photos of the disrepair and for contacting media in order to bring public attention to these issues and to effect change. Parents willingly spoke to media, with great results. In addition to the initial coverage in the Flamborough Review, CTV aired this clip on March 26, 2019, and Balaclava parents were also featured on CHCH.
➡️ Must read! Parent-led group exposes condition of school in #Flamborough #Glanbrook riding. Concerns: mould, potable water, fire safety, kids in snowsuits in class, ceiling tiles falling in JK. @donnaskelly @lisathompson @hchy40assets @Alex__Johnstone https://t.co/77kmD8xqaT
— Fix Our Schools (@Fix_Our_Schools) March 23, 2019
Parents worked with their Principal, Superintendent, and local Trustee to understand how their children’s school had fallen into such poor condition that children’s safety was being questioned, recognizing that school boards are responsible for conducting school repairs. Equally important, parents also contacted their local MPP, the Minister of Education and the Premier, recognizing that it is a provincial responsibility to provide proper funding to school boards so that boards can actually be able to properly maintain their schools. For two decades, provincial funding was grossly inadequate, which has led to a situation where there are large school repair backlogs in all boards across the province.
We know that the nightmarish conditions that plagued Balaclava Elementary School earlier this year are not unique to this Carlisle school, which is part of the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB). HWDSB schools have a total of $337.4-million of disrepair, as per provincial data, and Ontario’s schools have a total of $15.9-billion of disrepair.