Cheaper to Rebuild Some Schools than to Repair

February 4, 2020

The last time the Ontario government released disrepair data for publicly funded schools was in Fall 2017 despite the fact that on the Ministry of Education’s website, we read: 

“The Government of Ontario is committed to increasing the transparency of its historic investments in school infrastructure so that Ontarians can see the importance of this funding and the results it yields over time. That is why the Ministry of Education is ensuring that the most recent results from its School Condition Assessment Program are readily available to the public. Through this program, independent, third-party facility inspectors conduct assessments to obtain data on the current condition of all open and operating schools across the province. The Facility Condition Index (FCI) is derived from the information that is collected through this process.”

Fix Our Schools has made repeated calls for the Ford government to update and release disrepair data for all schools in the province but our requests have, to date, fallen on deaf ears. And so, we are left relying on data that is over two years old. Based on this data, economist Hugh Mackenzie estimated that there were 346 schools in the province that would be cheaper to rebuild than to repair. 

And, according to CBC’s February 4, 2020 article, “14 aging Toronto public schools would cost more to repair than rebuild“. 

The list of schools include:

  1. Etobicoke Year Round Alternative Centre
  2. Oakdale Park Middle School
  3. Amesbury Middle School
  4. Winona Drive Senior Public School
  5. Charles G. Fraser Junior School
  6. Ryerson Community School
  7. Montrose Junior Public School
  8. Winchester Junior and Senior Public School
  9. Blythwood Junior Public School
  10. Eastdale Collegiate Institute
  11. Glen Ames Senior Public School
  12. Secord Public School
  13. Vradenburg Junior Public School
  14. Timberbank Junior Public School

The 14 schools highlighted above have a facility condition index (FCI) number of more than 100 percent, which is calculated by taking the total cost of repairs and dividing it by the value of replacing the entire building. The Ministry of Education hires independent, third-party facility inspectors to gather the information. We are able to identify the 14 schools above because the TDSB updates and releases disrepair for all of its schools each year. While Fix Our Schools is not suggesting that rebuilding these schools is the best approach, we are highlighting how incredibly unacceptable it is that provincial funding over the past 22 years has caused schools to deteriorate to this degree.

 

When asked how the Province was going to respond to the unacceptable level of disrepair in schools, Education Minister Stephen Lecce touted that his government had launched a program last year that will invest more than $500 million into new schools and renovations in addition to the $1.4-billion/year allocated to repair and renewal. When the TDSB alone has $3.5-billion of disrepair in its schools, a $2-billion investment clearly is not sufficient. Fix Our Schools is pushing for an additional $1.6 billion/year from the province, in addition to the $1.4-billion/year Ontario schools are currently receiving.