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Ceiling tiles collapsing in one Ontario school

April 22, 2016

From a Grade 7/8 Teacher in Ontario:

I’m sharing a couple of photos from the Ontario elementary school where I am a teacher.

The first photo shows a gap in the ceiling of our Common Area where the tiles became bloated and then collapsed over a year ago due to leaking after a heavy rain.

The building roof has been patched in places, but this particular site continues to spring a leak whenever there’s significant rain. The last time this happened, a Grade 8 student matter-of-factly put out a bucket under the leak and then went about his business as though a leaky roof is to be expected in an Ontario school!

The second photo shows a similar gap in the Grade 8 classroom and lunch room.

We also experience leaks in our kitchen and musical instrument storage, risking damage to expensive and much-needed equipment. Water-stained tiles throughout the school mark the legacy of a leaky roof. The roof has been patched repeatedly over the years, but the filthy tiles remain.

Our wonderful, supportive parent council and Principal have tried to draw attention to this issue with the powers that be. Our teaching staff and students get on with their daily business with considerable good humour and aplomb. I think it is a shame that these are our working and learning conditions. We have great caretakers who do all they can just to maintain the day-to-day cleanliness of the classroom floors, hallways, stairwell and bathrooms.

Parents, students and visitors frequently comment on the disrepair in our schools. They wonder aloud about the possibility of mold, given all the evidence of longstanding water issues. It’s embarrassing and reflects poorly on our school! Some less informed folks have even made remarks that suggest that the fault lies with the teaching staff. This is unfair and hard on morale as we work hard to run a program that we can be proud of.

The worst part is that in terms of our facility, I know that we are actually quite lucky compared to other schools I’ve visited.

I hope these photos help shine a light on the issue of maintenance and crumbling infrastructure so that changes can be made to the funding formula and real improvements can be made to schools across our our province.

A 5-year leak in one Ontario school

April 20, 2016

The roof at this school has been leaking for well over five years. The bucket in this photo is a routine fixture at the school.

School conditions matter. They impact student achievement, the health of students and adults who learn and work in these buildings, and they impact attendance.

As voters and citizens, we must convince the provincial government to prioritize the issue of disrepair in Ontario’s schools. School boards have not been receiving close to sufficient money to ensure our schools are kept in a state of good repair. Let your local MPP know that school conditions matter to you!

A picture is worth 1,000 words

April 18, 2016

2-million children attend publicly funded schools in Ontario. Many of these schools are crumbling and do not provide an optimum learning environment for children.

Please email Fix Our Schools photos of disrepair in your local schools. A picture is truly worth 1,000 words!

The first step in fixing a problem is acknowledging there is a problem. Your photos will ensure that the problem of disrepair in schools is
acknowledged and help move us towards finding solutions to Fix Our Schools!

What makes Premier Wynne take action?

April 10, 2016

On April 4, 2016, Ontario’s Premier Kathleen Wynne took quick action on a few fronts:

Premier Wynne came out on the steps of Queen’s Park in an unprecedented move, vowing to work with Black Lives Matter protestors on a review of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) by the provincial government. Why? Because there had been several weeks of very public protests, including an ongoing demonstration outside Toronto police headquarters and an April 4 march to Queen’s Park by 150 Black Lives Matter protesters.

Premier Wynne also vowed to ban corporate and union donations, ending her government’s party’s practice of “cash-for-access” fundraising. Why? Because there there had been several weeks of consistent and embarrassing media coverage. Media had revealed how Wynne’s party frequently holds unpublicized, small-scale fundraisers in which corporations and lobbyists, some of whom do business with the government, pay thousands of dollars for exclusive access to Premier Wynne and her cabinet ministers over cocktails.

The lesson here? If we want to see our children’s schools fixed – we must mount more pressure on Kathleen Wynne and her government. How? We need more media attention on this topic and we must let our provincial MPPs know that we expect action on this issue.

What can you do?

Send us photos of disrepair in schools – or videos! A picture is worth a 1,000 words.
Share personal stories about how disrepair in schools is negatively impacting your children.
Email or call your MPP to let them know you expect the provincial government to take action to Fix Our Schools.
Ask others to join Fix Our Schools, either by signing up for emails at www.fixourschools.ca/joinus/ and/or by following us on Facebook

April 5, 2016 is Healthy Schools Day in Canada!

April 4, 2016

What is Healthy Schools Day?

Healthy Schools Day in Canada launched in 2009 by twelve national and provincial organizations. It gives citizens, students, teachers, organizations, school boards, and all Canadians, a specific time to focus on school buildings’ indoor environment quality to benefit the health and learning ability of our country’s school children, and protect the health of workers in Canadian schools.

CASLE (Canadians for A Safe Learning Environment) has been doing amazing work, predominantly on the east coast in Canada, for 25 years to ensure safe, healthy schools. This organization continues to coordinate Healthy Schools Day in Canada.

Why is a National Healthy Schools Day Important?

Many schools have problems linked to indoor air quality.
Children are more vulnerable to environmental hazards.
Children spend an average of 30 to 50 hours per week in school.
Staff spend even more time in their school workplaces.
Poor indoor environmental quality is associated with a wide rage of problems that include respiratory illnesses and poor concentration leading to poor learning. Athletes need clean air in order to achieve their best and so do students!
Asthma studies show up to 13% and in some areas 17% of school age children have asthma, the leading cause of school absenteeism, accounting for thousands of missed school days each year, and high costs to the medical system.
There is no longer any doubt. Many studies have found positive health impacts from improved indoor air quality.
Children attending schools in good condition score 5 to 10 percent higher on standardized tests than students who attend schools in poor condition.
Studies show that resources put into improving indoor environment quality have a rapid pay back.
Our Country’s school boards commonly make very difficult decisions between cutting back much-needed academic programs vs. cutting back on needed building maintenance.
Healthy new and existing schools provide cleaner air, improved lighting, and reduced exposures to toxic substances, and provide a healthier and safer learning environment for children, and improved academic achievement and well-being.
Federal and provincial governments have demonstrated interest in this important issue by developing programs like the Tools for Schools IAQ Action Kit, creating data, information and conferences on school IAQ; and are working to provide healthier schools every day. Use the Kit in your school!
Our schools have the great responsibility of guiding the future of our children. Our children are our country’s greatest resource.

2016/17 Ministry of Education Funding for School Boards

March 30, 2016

On Thursday, March 24, Ontario’s Ministry of Education proudly announced an increase of $300-million in the funding to school boards this coming year. Included in the $22.9-billion total that will go to publicly funded education in this province is the money that will go towards fixing schools.

Unfortunately, there is not enough money being provided by Premier Wynne’s government to Fix Our Schools. In fact, at the levels of funding being provided, we will see the $15-billion repair backlog in Ontario’s schools continue to get larger. So, the bottom line is that the state of disrepair in our children’s schools is going to continue to worsen under Premier Wynne’s leadership.

In 2005, this Liberal provincial government said, “Ultimately, a school’s condition reflects the state of commitment from one generation to the advancement of the next”. The condition of Ontario’s schools has steadily declined over the past 11 years. What does this say about our generation’s level of commitment to the next?

Community hubs require effort from all levels of government

March 24, 2016

The editorial entitled, “Saving our community spaces” in the March 11, 2016 edition of local paper “The Town Crier” was written by TCDSB Trustee Jo-Ann Davis. She emphasizes the importance of public spaces (like publicly funded schools!) to both communities and economic growth. Davis also outlines the many challenges that make creating community spaces difficult right now.

While all levels of government agree on the importance of community spaces (a.k.a Community Hubs) in theory, none of the levels of government with access to funding sources – municipal, provincial level and federal – appear ready to provide the funding and leadership needed to create community. Instead, school boards (which cannot directly access funding but instead, rely upon whatever is given to them by the Province) and not-for-profits (which clearly don’t have deep pockets!) are left shouldering the responsibility of figuring out how to cobble together community spaces without any real access to dollars.

This model clearly isn’t going to lead to success. Money isn’t the only ingredient needed for successful community hubs but it is an important one!

Next time you hear a City Councillor, MPP or MP talk about the value of community spaces (a.k.a Community Hubs) – ask them what they intend to do to help create and fund these important elements of our public infrastructure. All levels of government must start working together in order for communities to have the spaces we want and need.

“Ontario’s schools are falling apart. Here’s how to fix them.”

March 15, 2016

An editorial entitled, “Ontario’s schools are falling apart. Here’s how to fix them.” was published in the Toronto Star on January 28, 2016. It examines how Ontario has arrived at a place where $15-billion of disrepair exists in our publicly funded schools and then goes on to explore how Premier Wynne’s government might consider solving the issue.

Authors Sachin Maharaj, PhD student, and Gordon Petch, lawyer, state that “of all the duties that educational leaders and policy-makers have, ensuring that schools are safe is arguably the most important.” Given that 2-million Ontario children spend their days in school buildings, ensuring safe, well-maintained schools should be of paramount importance to Premier Wynne. However, Wynne’s government continues to blame school boards for disrepair, refusing to take any accountability for Ontario’s schools falling apart. Ironically, Ontario’s own Auditor-General has confirmed that our provincial government has underfunded school repairs by $5.8-billion over the last five years.

When will Premier Wynne start to prioritize schools as important public infrastructure and Fix Our Schools?

A look at disrepair in one high school

March 9, 2016

An article entitled, “The TDSB’s billion-dollar repair backlog means schools like Northern Secondary are in disrepair” was published in Post City Toronto on March 1, 2016. In it, one Toronto high school was featured. Photos of a broken window, rotting wood, and sub-standard washrooms were featured.

Although the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) certainly has the largest repair backlog of any Ontario school board, disrepair impacts all 72 publicly funded school boards in this province. So, while Toronto schools are often featured in the media, you could readily find schools in critical condition throughout the province where similar photos could be taken.

Ontario’s school boards work extremely hard to quickly address disrepair in schools – especially disrepair that poses an immediate health and safety concern. However, for 2015-16, Premier Wynne’s provincial government has only provided school boards with about 5% of what is needed to address the $15-billion repair backlog in schools across the province. Our provincial government hasn’t even provided sufficient funding to school boards to address the $1.7-billion of disrepair that its own Auditor-General has deemed to be both critical and urgent! Therefore, school boards are in an increasingly tough position as repair backlogs continue to grow.

Premier Wynne – when will you stop boasting about the increased funding your government has provided and, instead, focus on ensuring the funding that is actually needed to ensure safe, well-maintained schools for our children?

A student’s perspective on disrepair in schools

March 7, 2016

Spencer Higdon-McGreal is a grade 12 student who has attended three different publicly funded schools over his 14 years of schooling in this province. Fix Our Schools was so happy that Spencer was able to join us at our most recent press conference to share a student perspective…

“I’ve seen first hand how desperately our public schools need repairs.

Holes in the ceilings, peeling paint, buckets in classrooms catching water from leaky ceilings, burnt out lights, disgusting washrooms … are just a few examples of problems we see in schools across the province. An issue that is all too common at this time of year is heating, or the lack of it I should say. For the past four years at my high school, I cannot remember a winter when our boiler didn’t break at least once, sometimes for multiple days, leaving students freezing and unable to focus.

There have been classes where students had to wear their winter jackets in class. In fact, proper heating has been an issue at some point during almost every winter over my 14 years at school. This is inexcusable!

Ontario’s Auditor-General has confirmed that $7-billion OUGHT to have gone to school repairs over the past five years… but that only $1.2-billion actually DID go to school repairs. This is a $5.8-billion shortfall in funding – for buildings where Ontario’s 2-million students spend six hours each day! As a student, I find this prioritization of funding shocking, but I also find it sad. Students have come to think that crumbling classrooms are a normal part of public school.

Ontario is a wealthy province, we should be increasing funding to schools, not letting them get progressively worse. Schools are critical infrastructure in our communities and must be kept in a state of good repair.

I’ve seen enough that I could talk about this issue forever, but i’ll keep it short.

Today’s students are tomorrow’s future leaders and contributors. They need and deserve the best education they can get. With the enormous number of problems in our schools, students aren’t given the best. The Ontario government can do better, and must do better.”