For years, Fix Our Schools has advocated for sufficient, stable provincial funding to eliminate the $16.3-billion repair backlog in schools across the province and to ensure that all school buildings are safe, healthy and well-maintained. We know there are negative consequences to students, teachers and education workers when a school is in poor condition.
Scarborough’s Timberbank PS is crumbling. School building needs heat, water, fire alarms, door handles, wiring; student learning is impacted. But these buildings provide spaces for many urban residents, not just students.
Schools Are Community.#Agincourt #ScarbTO #onted pic.twitter.com/vxfncZKha2— Fix Our Schools (@Fix_Our_Schools) December 2, 2018
Fix Our Schools also advocates for stable, adequate provincial funding for school repairs and renewal because right now, a large percentage of repairs in schools are done reactively instead of proactively through routine maintenance. Reactive repairs are far less efficient than proactive maintenance, often costing around 30% more. Reactive repairs can also create havoc in schools and can negatively impact student learning.
For instance, one Ontario school recently experienced an elevator breakdown that was going to take some time to repair. With many students in that school population who use wheelchairs and walkers, one can imagine the challenges faced by students, teachers, education workers and administration as they worked to ensure that learning could continue. Across the province, school roofs are routinely repaired reactively, once leaking has already started to occur. Again, one can imagine the unnecessary chaos and disruption caused by this approach to maintenance, that has become commonplace in many school boards because provincial funding for school repairs and renewal has been so grossly inadequate for so long.
“The majority of repair work that is done is reactive,” explains Krista Wylie, co-founder of Fix Our Schools. “We don’t fix a roof until its actually leaking on top of children’s heads… so it ends up being more expensive.” https://t.co/gN9iaUfrFX pic.twitter.com/dfDWsJefSm
— Fix Our Schools (@Fix_Our_Schools) May 11, 2019
Fix Our Schools believes it is fiscally and morally responsible to fix Ontario’s schools in a timely manner and in a proactive manner. With this in mind, we sincerely hope that the Ford government will take into consideration our input to the next provincial budget and allocate an additional $1.6-billion/year to school infrastructure.