Monthly Archives: May 2019

School conditions impact resilience

May 29, 2019

In the May 25, 2019 essay in the Globe and Mail newspaper entitled, “Resilience: Our ability to bounce back depends more on what’s around us than what’s within us”, Michael Ungar explores how people’s environments contribute to their resilience – their ability to weather difficult life circumstances.

Ungar is the Canada Research Chair in Child, Family and Community Resilience, a professor of social work at Dalhousie University and a family therapist. He has studied resilience around the world and has found that “all the internal resources we can muster are seldom of much use without a nurturing environment”. He goes on to say that his research clearly demonstrates that “resilience depends more on what we receive than what we have within us”.

Throughout his Globe and Mail essay, which is adapted from his book entitled, Change Your World: The Science of Resilience and the True Path to Success”, Unger cites external resources and environmental factors such as the following as being truly critical to a person’s resilience:

  • family, friends, and colleagues who are supportive
  • a community with police, social workers, fire departments, ambulances and food banks
  • employment insurance and pension plans
  • a working (or learning) environment that is well staffed and provides good conditions in buildings that are well-maintained

He concludes his essay by stating simply that, “When it comes to maintaining well-being and finding success, environments matter. In fact, they may matter just as much, and likely much more, than individual thoughts, feelings or behaviours.”

As we read this essay in Saturday’s Globe, we thought about the 2-million Ontario children who spend their days in publicly funded schools. If we want these children to not only survive but thrive and develop resilience, then to us, it seems obvious that we must provide them with school buildings that are safe, healthy and well-maintained and that we must provide them with well-staffed and properly resourced classrooms.  What do you think?

Federal Government Starts to Invest in Our Public Schools as Critical Infrastructure!

May 28, 2019

On May 22, 2019, CBC published an article entitled, “London high school to become Canada’s first carbon neutral school”, which outlined plans for a $9.7-million retrofit of John Paul II Catholic Secondary School in London, Ontario. The federal government will contribute $4.8-million to the project, with the London District Catholic School Board (LDCSB) providing the remainder of the funding through installments over a 20-year period.

 

About five years ago, when staff at the LDCSB were contemplating replacing old systems at the school, they figured they would be well-served to replace them with new, green technology, according to Jacquie Davison, superintendent of business for the LDCSB 

This rendering shows charging stations at the school. (Hala Ghonaim/CBC)

 

This project at John Paul II will remove more than 270 tonnes of carbon each year and will include:

  • Geothermal heating and cooling system that will feature 50,000 feet of drilled piping
  • 2,300 solar panels that cover the roof and carports
  • An energy microgrid that will include an electrical energy storage system
  • 2 electric vehicle charging stations

This rendering shows solar panels cover carports in the parking lot of the school. (Hala Ghonaim/CBC)

This project in London, Ontario is, to our knowledge, the first time that our federal government has invested in public schools (outside of First Nations schools, which are a federal responsibility) as critical infrastructure.

 

Fix Our Schools is optimistic that this project will set an important precedent and that federal money will continue to find its way to helping improve the conditions of our nation’s school buildings. After all, while the education that takes place in Canadian schools is certainly a provincial responsibility, the school buildings are critical infrastructure, deserving of not only provincial investment but also federal investment.  

 

 

Education activism is growing – get involved and ensure your voice is heard!

May 23, 2019

Our focus at Fix Our Schools continues to be on eliminating the $15.9-billion of disrepair in Ontario’s schools and seeing our provincial government enact a Standard of Good Repair for schools. However, there are many other issues facing our publicly funded education system and many parents and students across the province are emerging as voices for those concerns as well. 

Fix Our Schools encourages you to get involved with the following province-wide education advocacy efforts if you have concerns outside of school infrastructure. And please let us know of others out there too! We know there are many groups forming more locally across the province as well, which is such an important form of activism such as the West End Parents for Public Education in Toronto. 

We believe wholeheartedly in a strong publicly funded education system and we are so happy to see so much grassroots advocacy emerging and flourishing in the education sector. 

  1. Ontario Families for Public Education

This Facebook group was created by Ontario parents as a space for all Ontario parents to get plain language updates on how provincial funding and policies may affect our childrens’ educations.

2. Students Say No

This movement is being led by Ontario students focused on ensuring a strong, publicly funded education system in this province. They are active on Instagram and Facebook.

3. Parents4Education

This website was created by a group of parents who are concerned that Ministry of Education’s proposed changes to education will have a significant negative impact on student achievement and well-being. It provides a collection of content, thoughts, concerns, articles and resources to help you form your own opinion and provide feedback to the provincial government. One of the concerns highlighted by this group if mandatory e-learning in high schools.

 

What are the consequences of poor school conditions?

May 20, 2019

If your local school is in poor condition, there can be a variety of consequences:

1. School conditions impact your child’s learning. Many Ontario classrooms are as cold as 12 degrees in the winter, while during the fall and spring, classroom temperatures can soar above 35 degrees. Studies show there is a narrow band of optimal air temperature associated with learning – around 22 degrees. Studies also show that poor air quality (peeling paint, mould, poor ventilation, etc.) increases incidents of asthma, the leading cause of student absence. 

2. Principals have less time to support teaching when the roof leaks. Naturally, safety is the priority during repairs. How can a principal effectively lead a school while they are also the construction manager and PR/communications professional meant to effectively communicate logistics and manage expectations? Being a principal is a full-time job without adding the layer of complexity of being a construction manager or boiler specialist.

3. A whole neighbourhood can suffer. Schools are community hubs that house the majority of childcare facilities in Ontario. Soccer clubs use the fields, Girl Guides use the gyms, and seniors use the auditoriums.

4. Reactive repairs are costing taxpayers. When a roof leaks, damage is done to the building’s interior. We know that reactive repairs can cost up to three times more than routine, proactive maintenance. School boards can only maximize efficiency in repairing and maintaining schools when funding from the province is adequate and stable from year to year.

 

It’s Fiscally and Morally Responsible to Fix Ontario’s School Sooner than Later

May 16, 2019

School disrepair in Toronto and the province, at large, was the focus of a CityNews report by Cristina Howorun on May 9, 2019.

Howorun begins her report by stating that “leaky roofs, cracked foundations, broken windows and heaters that don’t always work – that’s the learning environment for much of Ontario’s student population. It’s part of a staggering repair backlog that, according to data from the Ministry of Education, will cost $16-billion to repair if done today.”

However, as Howorun points out, the $16-billion school repair backlog is likely to grow instead of diminishing, unless provincial funding increases to enable school boards to get ahead of the disrepair. Krista Wylie, co-founder of Fix Our Schools, was interviewed for this report and explained that, unfortunately, the majority of repair work at schools is conducted reactively rather than proactively. Industry data would suggest that reactive maintenance can cost up to three times more than proactive maintenance, a real waste of public dollars.

Due to gross underfunding by the Province for more than two decades, school boards frequently end up fixing a school roof only once it has already started leaking. Clearly, the approach of waiting until water is dripping on students’ heads, possibly damaging school property like library books or technology, and possibly creating havoc with electrical and fire alarm systems is not ideal, nor is it a fiscally responsible approach to asset management.

As we learned earlier this spring at Balaclava Elementary School in the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board, reactive repairs for roofing can be not only fiscally irresponsible but can also be downright dangerous to the students and staff who spend their days in these buildings.

So with this in mind, the Fix Our Schools campaign calls upon our provincial government to allocate the adequate and stable funding required to truly fix Ontario’s schools. Economist Hugh Mackenzie estimates this would require an additional investment of $1.6-billion/year – on top of the $1.4-billion/year currently allocated by the Province for School Condition Improvement (SCI) and School Renewal Allocation (SRA) funding.

Sadly, in the May 9, 2019 CityNews report, Education Minister Lisa Thompson was quoted as saying, “we invested this past school year $1.4-billion in school repairs and we’re committed to another $1.4-billion in repairs. The fact of the matter is, over the next 10 years, we’re investing 13 billion dollars in repairs as well as capital.” Fix Our Schools has requested clarification about this funding commitment, given that simple math would demonstrate this funding level to be a substantial cut to funding for school repairs and capital, when, as stated earlier, what is really needed is additional funding.

Developers Ought to Contribute to the Neighbourhoods from which they Profit

May 13, 2019

Ever since founding the Fix Our Schools campaign in 2014, we’ve believed strongly that developers ought to contribute financially to the public infrastructure in the neighbourhoods where they choose to build. We believe developers choose to build in neighbourhoods that maximize profitability – which generally means where there are good local schools and other public goods like public transit and community spaces. Therefore, it only makes sense that developers contribute financially to the public infrastructure that allows them to profit.

Since 2014, we’ve urged the provincial government to change its outdated regulation guiding the eligibility for and use of Education Development Charges (EDCs), which prevented many Ontario school boards from collecting development fees and limited usage of said fees to only the purchase of new land.

On May 2, 2019 Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, announced the “More homes, more choice: Ontario’s Housing Supply Action Plan”, which includes the following proposed changes to the EDC regulation:

  • Allow only modest increases in EDCs to help make housing more affordable
  • Allow for innovative and lower-cost alternatives to site acquisition.

Neither of these proposed changes does anything to address the fact that millions of dollars are being left in developers pockets every year rather than being used to contribute to school infrastructure in the communities where they are profiting. Similarly, these proposed changes do nothing to address the limitation of the current regulation that only allows school boards to use EDCs for purchasing new land, which simply doesn’t make sense in densely populated urban areas. We’ve requested a meeting with Education Minister Thompson to better understand these proposed changes but at first blush, we are sad to see a lost opportunity to improve the school conditions where 2-million Ontario children spend their days.

Ontario Student Trustees – Proof that our Publicly Funded Education System is NOT BROKEN

May 8, 2019

On Monday, May 6, 2019, Fix Our Schools witnessed absolute proof that Ontario’s publicly funded education system is not broken. We were thrilled to be at Queen’s Park supporting the Ontario Student Trustees’ Association (OSTA-AECO) as they released an incredibly thoughtful, well-researched vision document entitled, “The Students’ Vision for Education”. The Student Trustees who researched, wrote and presented this vision document are intelligent, thoughtful, articulate, confident young people who are already making huge contributions to society. These same Student Trustees are a result of Ontario’s publicly funded education system.

OSTA-AECO is a non-partisan organization comprised of student trustees from public and Catholic school boards across the province. Representing approximately 2-million Ontario students, OSTA-AECO members work with provincial partners in government to improve our publicly funded education system for students.

The vision articulated by OSTA Executive on Monday at Queen’s Park was impressive and student-focused. The vision document represents much research and reflects data collected from over 20,000 surveys. Truly, the intelligence, poise, maturity, and confidence embodied in the Student Trustees at Queen’s Park was a huge testament to Ontario’s education system, one of the best in the entire world according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

As outlined in the Forward of the OSTA-AECO vision document, Ontario’s strong education system is no accident. It has relied on excellent, dedicated work by educators, administrators, and students.

“A publicly-funded education system is an integral part of any mature society. It lifts communities up, promotes widespread equity, and provides countless opportunities for citizens to succeed throughout their lives. The immense benefit of publicly-funded education is unquestionable; it is a promise of prosperity, success, and development. Nevertheless, to protect it, Ontario must constantly improve it.” – pg. 6 of OSTA-AECO vision document

OSTA’s vision document provides our provincial government with 35 long-term recommendations that “strive to transform every facet of our education system”.

For the Fix Our Schools campaign, perhaps the most pertinent recommendations from OSTA-AECO were under the pillar entitled, “Funding Formula Reform”, which calls on our provincial government to rectify the significant issues of funding inadequacy. Since 2014, Fix Our Schools has asked the Province to ensure adequate, stable funding for school building infrastructure and we were heartened to hear such strong support from OSTA-AECO for ensuring safe, healthy, well-maintained school buildings in this province.

In fact, OSTA-AECO identifies the growing state of disrepair in publicly funded schools as “one of the largest challenges facing Ontario’s education system”, noting that the capital repair backlog has grown from $5.6-billion in 2002 to a whopping $15.9-billion as of the most recent release of disrepair data by the province in Fall 2017.

The following student quote from the OSTA-AECO vision document provides a vivid illustration of how disrepair in Ontario’s schools negatively impacts student learning:

OSTA-AECO also calls on our provincial government to implement a Standard of Good Repair for Ontario schools as part of the solution to poor learning conditions in Ontario’s schools. Recognizing that “it is extremely difficult for students to succeed if they are shivering in class, the provincial government must create a standard for good repair which is localized for unique costs, individualized through school-based funding, and be completely detached from utilization rates. It should be provincial through consistent standards across the board for the temperature that is conducive for learning, cleanliness, and facilities’ upkeep requirements.”

Lack of Education Funding Details from Province puts School Boards Behind the Eight Ball

May 6, 2019

Annie Kidder, the Executive Director of People for Education, reminds us of the following truths in her blog released on May 2, 2019:

  • “First, there is no evidence anywhere that says cutting money from education is the best route to promote student success. On the contrary, economists agree that investment in education – from early childhood through to post-secondary – pays off at least tenfold. So if we invest $24 billion now, we will eventually reap a $240 billion payoff – in higher taxes paid, in higher employment in the rapidly-evolving knowledge economy (or, as one recent report called it, the Intangibles Economy), in savings to health care, and in lower costs for things like social services and criminal justice.”
  • “On April 26th, the province made announcements about funding, but there are no details available. This makes it difficult to know exactly how much money will be available, and for what. For school boards, who must submit final, balanced budgets by the end of June, this makes it very difficult to plan.”

School buildings impact health and achievement

May 2, 2019

Where did April go? We’re already into May but wanted to take a moment to reflect on April’s “Healthy Schools Day” in Canada. This designated day gives Canadians a specific time to focus on school buildings’ indoor environment quality and how this environment can either benefit or harm the health of our country’s school children and all the adults who work in school buildings across Canada. 

What are common issues in school buildings?

1. Exposure to hazards

  • Children are more vulnerable to environmental hazards than adults
  • Children spend an average of 30 to 50 hours per week in school
  • Adults who work in school buildings spend even more than 30-50 hours per week in their school workplaces
  • Children attending schools in good condition score 5 to 10 percent higher on standardized tests than students who attend schools in poor condition

 

2. Indoor Air Quality and Impacts

  • Many schools have problems linked to indoor air quality
  • Improved indoor air quality positively impacts health and, conversely, poor indoor environmental quality is associated with respiratory illnesses and poor concentration, leading to poor learning
  • We know poor indoor air quality is particularly challenging for people with asthma and we also know that 13-17% of school children in Canada have asthma, the leading cause of school absenteeism. Asthma accounts for thousands of missed school days each year and contributes high costs to the medical system

3. Water

  • Very few new schools have been built in Ontario in the last few decades therefore most school buildings do not have upgraded plumbing systems
  • Water standing overnight in school building pipes creates opportunity for lead leaching into the drinking water system at schools
  • The EPA & Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agree that there is NO KNOWN safe level of lead in a child’s blood
  • Many schools do not have backflow preventers, which are absolutely necessary to prevent bacteria from contaminating the drinking water systems 

4. The Lack of State of Good Repair Standards

  • Canada’s school boards make very difficult decisions between cutting back programs vs. cutting back on needed building maintenance because provincial funding simply isn’t sufficient for all education needs
  • Provinces, including Ontario, do not have a ‘State of Good Repair’ Standard for school buildings, which are important public infrastructure
  • Many provinces in Canada do not have mandatory carbon monoxide detector legislation for school buildings

The Future

When schools provide cleaner air, improved lighting, and reduced exposures to toxic substances, the children and adults who spend their days in these buildings benefit. They are healthier, miss fewer days of school/work and we see improved academic achievement for students.