Category Archives: Fix Our Schools

MPP Cuzzetto: $237.9-million of Disrepair in Mississauga Lakeshore Schools

August 29, 2019

Dear MPP Cuzzetto,

In 2018 MPP Cuzzetto signed the Fix Our Schools Pledge to create a Standard of Good Repair for Ontario schools

Did you know there is $237.9-million of disrepair in the publicly funded schools in your riding of Mississauga Lakeshore? We wanted to share the following details of disrepair in each school in your riding in the hope that this detailed information would underscore the importance of developing standards of good repair for Ontario schools and also the importance of providing the adequate, stable provincial funding to school boards required for them to meet those new standards and eliminate the $15.9-billion repair backlog that plagues Ontario’s schools:

Total disrepair in each publicly funded school in Mississauga Lakeshore:

ÉÉP Horizon Jeunesse  $                  2,864,509
Iona SS  $                  3,619,632
Queen of Heaven Sep S  $                     659,100
St. Catherine of Siena (replacement school)  $                     486,720
St. Christopher Sep S  $                  3,029,516
St. Dominic Sep S  $                  2,416,160
St. Edmund Sep S  $                  1,805,756
St. Francis of Assisi Sep S  $                  1,214,715
St. Helen Sep S  $                  1,879,184
St. James Catholic Global Learning Centre  $                  2,147,633
St. Jerome Sep S  $                  1,036,099
St. Louis Sep S  $                  1,528,840
St. Luke Elementary School  $                     670,000
St. Martin Sep S  $                  2,198,892
St. Paul S S  $                  1,640,688
Allan A Martin Sr PS  $                  5,041,040
Camilla Road Sr PS  $                  6,951,987
Cawthra Park SS  $               17,182,199
Clarkson PS  $                  3,077,307
Clarkson SS  $               15,624,598
Corsair PS  $                  5,497,077
Erindale SS  $               20,925,481
Forest Avenue PS  $                  3,956,390
Gordon Graydon Memorial SS  $               17,278,991
Green Glade Sr PS  $                  4,448,098
Hawthorn PS  $                  1,942,970
Hillcrest PS  $                  5,511,468
Hillside Sr PS  $                  7,001,674
Homelands Sr PS  $                  6,911,080
Kenollie PS  $                  3,419,230
Lorne Park PS  $                  2,329,415
Lorne Park SS  $               20,431,397
Mineola PS  $                  2,846,638
Munden Park PS  $                  1,931,180
Oakridge PS  $                  3,693,388
Owenwood PS  $                  2,395,320
Port Credit SS  $               19,037,777
Queen Elizabeth Sr PS  $                  3,910,179
Riverside PS  $                  4,801,384
Sheridan Park PS  $                  5,905,661
Tecumseh PS  $                  5,259,617
Thorn Lodge PS  $                  5,101,884
Westacres PS  $                  3,214,815
Whiteoaks PS  $                  4,811,714

School conditions matter. They impact student learning, attendance, and health.

We thank you for signing the Fix Our Schools Pledge leading up to the June 2018 provincial election and ask that you please take steps to ensure that the disrepair in all of Ontario’s publicly funded schools is eliminated and that schools are safe, healthy, well-maintained buildings that provide environments conducive to learning and working. We look forward to hearing back from you with details on your plan to Fix Ontario’s Schools.

 

PLEASE NOTE: Fix Our Schools is relying on the most recent disrepair data provided by the Ministry of Education in Fall 2017 and has mapped postal codes provided by the Ministry for each school to riding postal code information from a third party. Therefore, it is possible that there may be small errors in the data provided here and we would be grateful if community members would contact us with any errors. 

If You Don’t Ask, You Don’t Get

August 27, 2019

With a federal election imminent, we must ensure that our elected politicians at every level of government prioritize spending to align with our values. In a nutshell, we must ask for what we want.

As a Canadian, you very likely value high quality public education – and its associated societal and economic benefits. Certainly, if politicians asked, you would tell them that you want to see public school buildings in a state of good repair for the 5-million Canadian children who spend their days in these buildings.

Unfortunately, the sad reality is that publicly funded school buildings across this country are crumbling. While there are examples of state-of-the-art public schools, an unacceptable number of public schools across Canada need massive repairs. In Ontario schools alone, there are $15.9-billion of disrepair as of Fall 2017 (the last time disrepair data was updated and released publicly by our provincial government). In Vancouver, public schools struggle with $740-million of disrepair plus need seismic upgrades to make them safe in case of earthquakes;

So, as this federal election builds momentum and you have an opportunity to speak with candidates, let them know you consider publicly funded school buildings to be a critical element of our societal infrastructure – certainly on par with arenas, community centres and parks but also on par with transit, roads and healthcare. Let federal candidates know that you want infrastructure money to be spent on repairing and rebuilding Canada’s public school buildings. We know that in Canada, public education is a provincial responsibility. However, the school buildings in which education takes place represent critical public infrastructure that we believe should be able to benefit from funding from all levels of government. Now is the right time to ask.

If you don’t ask – you don’t get!

MPP Kusendova: $113-million of Disrepair in Mississauga Centre Schools

August 22, 2019

Dear MPP Kusendova,

In 2018 MPP Kusendova signed the Fix Our Schools Pledge to create a Standard of Good Repair for Ontario schools

Did you know there is $113-million of disrepair in the publicly funded schools in your riding of Mississauga Centre? We wanted to share
the following details of disrepair in each school in your riding in the hope that this detailed information would underscore the importance of developing standards of good repair for Ontario schools and also the importance of providing the adequate, stable provincial funding to school boards required for them
to meet those new standards and eliminate
the $15.9-billion repair backlog that plagues Ontario’s schools:

 

Total disrepair in each publicly funded school in Mississauga Centre:

Canadian Martyrs Sep S  $                 5,458,881
Corpus Christi Sep S  $                 1,979,228
Father Michael Goetz  $                 4,675,344
St. Bernadette E S  $                 1,843,905
St. Charles Garnier  $                 2,617,577
St. David of Wales Sep S  $                 4,140,996
St. Francis Xavier SS  $                 4,050,320
St. Gerard Sep S  $                 4,045,436
St. Herbert  $                    542,490
St. Hilary E S  $                 1,524,524
St. John XXIII Sep S  $                 3,085,325
St. Joseph SS  $                 3,413,032
St. Matthew Sep S  $                 1,343,550
Sts. Peter and Paul Sep S  $                 1,413,144
Edenrose PS  $                 3,176,475
Ellengale PS  $                 2,763,895
Fairview PS  $                 1,573,221
Fairwind Sr PS  $                 6,591,057
Fallingbrook Middle School  $                 2,523,238
Huntington Ridge PS  $                 3,697,107
John Fraser SS  $               14,493,001
McBride Avenue PS  $                 5,257,970
Queenston Drive PS  $                 6,422,676
Rick Hansen SS  $                 3,198,359
Sherwood Mills P.S.  $                    443,219
Springfield PS  $                 3,034,831
The Valleys PS  $                 4,399,604
The Woodlands (sec)  $               13,912,940

School conditions matter. They impact student learning, attendance, and health.

We thank you for signing the Fix Our Schools Pledge leading up to the June 2018 provincial election and ask that you please take steps to ensure that the disrepair in all of Ontario’s publicly funded schools is eliminated and that schools are safe, healthy, well-maintained buildings that provide environments conducive to learning and working. We look forward to hearing back from you with details on your plan to Fix Ontario’s Schools.

PLEASE NOTE: Fix Our Schools is relying on the most recent disrepair data provided by the Ministry of Education in Fall 2017 and has mapped postal codes provided by the Ministry for each school to riding postal code information from a third party. Therefore, it is possible that there may be small errors in the data provided here and we would be grateful if community members would contact us with any errors. 

Criteria for New School Buildings in Ontario: “Simply About Saving Money”?

August 20, 2019

Fix Our Schools was happy to see our provincial government resume the process for getting new schools and additions built in Ontario. You see, this process had been on hold since the June 2018 provincial election so we’ve had a year when zero new school buildings or additions were approved by the provincial government. Building new schools is one of the keys to reducing the $15.9-billion of disrepair that continues to plague Ontario’s publicly funded schools so Fix Our Schools was understandably relieved at Minister Lecce’s announcement on July 22, 2019.

However, we are perplexed at Minister Lecce’s comment relative to a recent memo to school boards that encouraged school boards to identify opportuities for modular construction and standardized plans for building new schools, saying that this move is “simply about saving money“.

Fix Our Schools is very supportive of using new approaches to building schools where Ontario’s children can best learn and we are extremely supportive of pursuing approaches to new school buildings that are both efficient and effective. We would propose that using the sole criteria of “saving money” will not lead to optimum learning environments for students and may not lead to the the most efficient or effective approach to building new schools in this province, especially when considered over the long-term.

The Fix Our Schools campaign would like to see new schools built to last, using high-quality materials and finishes that are easy to clean and maintain. We believe this approach will result in maximizing cost-savings over time.

As quoted in the August 15, 2019 opinion piece entitled, “Here’s a lesson: When it comes to public school design, Ontario will get what it pays for“, by Alex Bozikovic in the Globe & Mail, we would like to see “new schools built using designs that inspire optimum learning and allow for dignity for all students and adults learning and working in that building”. Portables are not dignified learning environments so the fact that so many new schools open their doors with portables on site from the very first day is unacceptable. The photo below is of the Fraser Mustard Early Learning Academy in Toronto, according to Bozikovic, this building is “a rare example of creative, thoughtful design among Ontario public schools.”

Fix Our Schools would like to see new schools built using designs that allow for flexibility if future uses evolve. Being able to easily transform a publicly funded school into a community centre or seniors centre as a community’s demographics evolve is the ultimate in efficient design. Therefore, we are concerned that no thought seems to be given to future uses of the critical public buildings we happen to call schools today – but that could evolve to be called community centres thirty years from now.

We would like to see new schools built that meet the diverse needs of rural, urban and suburban communities across the province.

Fix Our Schools would also like to see new schools in Ontario that are designed and built to send the message to students that their education is valued and important. Many of the older schools across Ontario are stunning buildings that clearly communicated the importance of education via the grandeur of the building.

We would encourage Minister Lecce to consider criteria beyond “simply saving money” in the short-term when working with school boards to replace the 346 schools in this province that, according to the most recent Facilities Condition Index (FCI) data released by the Province in October 2017, would be cheaper to rebuild than repair.

MPP Coe: $102.1-million of Disrepair in Whitby Schools

August 15, 2019

Dear MPP Coe,

Did you know there is $102.1-million of disrepair in the publicly funded schools in your riding of Whitby?

We wanted to share the following details of disrepair in each school in your riding in the hope that this detailed information would underscore the importance of developing standards of good repair for Ontario schools and also the importance of providing the adequate, stable provincial funding to school boards required for them to meet those new standards and eliminate the $15.9-billion repair backlog that plagues Ontario’s schools.

Total disrepair in each publicly funded school in Whitby:

All Saints C.S.S.  $                                              2,961,765
Father Leo J. Austin C.S.S.  $                                              7,049,162
St. Bernard C.S.  $                                              2,562,421
St. Bridget C.S.  $                                                   43,138
St. John the Evangelist C.S.  $                                              2,476,830
St. Leo C.S.  $                                                 599,770
St. Luke the Evangelist C.S.  $                                                   68,636
St. Marguerite D’Youville C.S.  $                                              3,350,006
St. Mark the Evangelist C.S.  $                                                 417,322
St. Matthew The Evangelist C.S.  $                                                 534,557
St. Paul C.S.  $                                              2,840,605
St. Theresa C.S.  $                                              2,442,743
Anderson C & VI  $                                           14,644,841
Bellwood PS  $                                              2,224,462
Blair Ridge P.S.  $                                                 171,535
Brooklin Village P.S.  $                                                 205,600
C E Broughton PS  $                                              1,091,068
Captain Michael Vandenbos P.S.  $                                                 647,547
Colonel J E Farewell PS  $                                              2,251,301
Donald A. Wilson Secondary School  $                                                 658,727
Dr Robert Thornton PS  $                                              5,326,768
Earl A Fairman PS  $                                                 961,208
Fallingbrook PS  $                                              1,089,140
Glen Dhu PS  $                                              3,110,363
Henry Street HS  $                                           17,628,270
Jack Miner P.S.  $                                              1,347,365
John Dryden PS  $                                              1,522,351
Meadowcrest PS  $                                              4,346,163
Ormiston PS  $                                              1,912,565
Pringle Creek PS  $                                              3,071,124
Robert Munsch P.S.  $                                                 273,900
Sinclair SS  $                                              4,978,027
Sir Samuel Steele P.S.  $                                                 358,945
Sir William Stephenson PS  $                                                 322,575
West Lynde PS  $                                              3,060,779
Whitby Shores  $                                                 257,000
Williamsburg P.S.  $                                                 624,300
Winchester PS  $                                                 689,135
ÉÉC JeanPaul II  $                                                 944,218
ÉSC SaintCharlesGarnier  $                                              2,995,181

School conditions matter. They impact student learning, attendance, and health.

We thank you for signing the Fix Our Schools Pledge leading up to the June 2018 provincial election and ask that you please take steps to ensure that the disrepair in all of Ontario’s publicly funded schools is eliminated and that schools are safe, healthy, well-maintained buildings that provide environments conducive to learning and working. We look forward to hearing back from you with details on your plan to Fix Ontario’s Schools.

PLEASE NOTE: Fix Our Schools is relying on the most recent disrepair data provided by the Ministry of Education in Fall 2017 and has mapped postal codes provided by the Ministry for each school to riding postal code information from a third party. Therefore, it is possible that there may be small errors in the data provided here and we would be grateful if community members would contact us with any errors. 

Federal Campaigns are Underway: Questions You Can Ask Your Local Candidates

August 13, 2019

I’ve already had two local candidates running in the upcoming federal election knock at my door and we’re sure you’ve already experienced this phenomenon too! Federal campaigning is well underway and you will likely have many opportunities to speak with candidates and MP’s in the coming months. We encourage you to take the opportunity to let them know you consider publicly funded schools an integral part of our public infrastructure.  

Potential conversation starters:

  • Federal money is being designated for transit and even community hubs such as curling rinks and hockey arenas…it would be great to see publicly funded school buildings receiving similar infrastructure funding from the federal government. While we recognize that public education is a provincial responsibility, the school buildings in which education takes place represent critical public infrastructure that we believe should be able to benefit from funding from all levels of government.
  • Vancouver public schools struggle with $740-million of disrepair plus need seismic upgrades to make them safe in case of earthquakes; Ontario’s publicly funded schools have a total of $15.9-billion of disrepair … so from east to west in this country, there is disrepair in our country’s publicly funded schools that must be addressed.
  • The federal government is responsible for First Nations education and schools and there is notable disrepair, lack of clean water and sanitation in many schools on First Nations reserves. There is also an absence of schools within a reasonable distance for many First Nations students.

Potential questions:

  • Do you view publicly funded schools as an important part of this country’s public infrastructure?
  • Do you believe all Canadian children, including those living on First Nations reserves, ought to be educated in safe, healthy, well-maintained publicly funded school buildings?
  • Would you consider accessing federal infrastructure dollars to address disrepair in Canada’s publicly funded school buildings?

We hope this makes it easy for you to engage with politicians and candidates during this federal election campaign. Please email us additional questions or conversation starters to share!

MPP Triantafilopoulos: $20.9-million of Disrepair in Oakville North-Burlington Schools

August 8, 2019

Dear MPP  Triantafilopoulos

Did you know there is $20.9-million of disrepair in the publicly funded schools in your riding of Oakville North-Burlington? We wanted to share the following details of disrepair in each school in your riding in the hope that this detailed information would underscore the importance of developing standards of good repair for Ontario schools and also the importance of providing the adequate, stable provincial funding to school boards required for them to meet those new standards and eliminate the $15.9-billion repair backlog that plagues Ontario’s schools:

Total disrepair in each publicly funded school in Oakville North-Burlington Riding:

Corpus Christi CSS  $                  224,018
Holy Trinity CSS  $              1,166,738
Mother Teresa CES  $              1,010,816
Notre Dame CSS  $              4,501,729
Our Lady of Peace CES  $              1,646,082
Sacred Heart of Jesus CES  $                  303,583
St. Andrew CES  $                  707,748
St. Christopher CES  $                    74,205
St. Elizabeth Seton CES  $                  865,726
St. Joan of Arc CES  $                  588,220
St. John Paul II CES  $                  114,827
St. Timothy CES  $              2,867,338
C H Norton PS  $              1,415,757
Captain R. Wilson PS  $                  376,690
Charles R. Beaudoin PS  $                  333,267
Emily Carr PS  $                  286,006
Florence Meares PS  $                  334,944
Forest Trail P.S.  $                  252,818
Orchard Park PS  $                  612,000
Palermo PS  $                    36,108
Post’s Corners PS  $                  300,900
River Oaks PS  $              2,469,408
West Oak PS  $                  396,780

School conditions matter. They impact student learning, attendance, and health.

We ask that you and your government please prioritize schools as critical infrastructure and take the steps necessary to ensure that the disrepair in all of Ontario’s publicly funded schools is eliminated and that schools are safe, healthy, well-maintained buildings that provide environments conducive to learning and working. We look forward to hearing back from you with details on your plan to Fix Ontario’s Schools.

PLEASE NOTE: Fix Our Schools is relying on the most recent disrepair data provided by the Ministry of Education in Fall 2017 and has mapped postal codes provided by the Ministry for each school to riding postal code information from a third party. Therefore, it is possible that there may be small errors in the data provided here and we would be grateful if community members would contact us with any errors. 

Federal Government is Responsible for First Nations School Infrastructure

August 6, 2019

Cindy Blackstock, the executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring  Society of Canada, wrote an Opinion piece for the Globe & Mail on July 16, 2019, entitled, “When will Ottawa end its willful neglect of First Nations children“.

She cites a report that was released earlier in the summer that confirms overall, 47% of First Nations children live in poverty – more than two-and-a-half times the national rate.

Blackstock calls on the Federal government to address this situation by co-developing a comprehensive plan with First Nations to address all the inequalities in public services on reserves, including education and basics such as water and sanitation.

Blackstock shares the story of the late Shannen Koostachin of Attawapiskat First Nation. “When Shannen was in grade 1, the only school in her community closed because of contamination from a gasoline spill. The Government of Canada, which is responsible for funding education on reserves, brought up portable trailers as a “temporary” facility while a new school was built. When Shannen was in Grade 8, those trailers were falling apart and there was no sign of a new school. She and the other youth in Attawapiskat called upon thousands of non-Indigenous children across Canada to join them in a campaign for a new school.

Shannen had to move off reserve to get a high-school education and in 2010, while she attended a high school she would have never gone to had the one in her own Northern Ontario community been properly funded, she died in an automobile accident. The thousands of children she inspired launched Shannen’s Dream to honour this hero and continue her work. In 2014, four years after Shannen’s death, a new school finally opened in Attawapiskat. Still, many other First Nations are without proper schools, so the campaign continues.”

Minister MacLeod: $98.8-million of Disrepair in Nepean Schools

August 1, 2019

Dear Minister MacLeod

Did you know there is $98.8-million of disrepair in the publicly funded schools in your riding of Nepean? We wanted to share the following details of disrepair in each school in your riding in the hope that this detailed information would underscore the importance of developing standards of good repair for Ontario schools and also the importance of providing the adequate, stable provincial funding to school boards required for them to meet those new standards and eliminate the $15.9-billion repair backlog that plagues Ontario’s schools:

Total disrepair in each publicly funded school in Nepean Riding:

Monsignor Paul Baxter CES  $                      670,884
Mother Teresa 912  $                  1,541,121
St Andrew CES  $                      148,517
St Elizabeth Ann Seton CES  $                  1,478,872
St Emily CES  $                        81,100
St John XXIII CES  $                  3,822,678
St Joseph 912  $                      284,187
St Luke CES (Nepean)  $                  2,146,336
St Patrick CES  $                      250,413
ÉÉC JeanRobertGauthier  $                        33,454
ÉÉC PierreElliottTrudeau  $                      143,398
ÉSC FrancoOuest  $                  5,676,734
ÉSC PierreSavard  $                        25,750
Adrienne Clarkson E.S.  $                      276,421
Barrhaven PS  $                  3,519,800
Bell HS  $                14,151,067
Berrigan ES  $                      258,783
Cedarview MS  $                  1,408,989
D. Aubrey Moodie IS  $                  7,862,266
Farley Mowat PS  $                        79,615
Jockvale ES  $                  2,411,623
John McCrae SS  $                  1,847,636
LongfieldsDavidson Heights Secondary School (912)  $                      170,300
Manordale PS  $                  4,634,718
Mary Honeywell ES  $                  1,986,945
Merivale HS  $                17,254,939
Sir Guy Carleton SS  $                  4,775,418
Sir Robert Borden HS  $                21,890,813

School conditions matter. They impact student learning, attendance, and health.

We ask that you and your government please prioritize schools as critical infrastructure and take the steps necessary to ensure that the disrepair in all of Ontario’s publicly funded schools is eliminated and that schools are safe, healthy, well-maintained buildings that provide environments conducive to learning and working. We look forward to hearing back from you with details on your plan to Fix Ontario’s Schools.

PLEASE NOTE: Fix Our Schools is relying on the most recent disrepair data provided by the Ministry of Education in Fall 2017 and has mapped postal codes provided by the Ministry for each school to riding postal code information from a third party. Therefore, it is possible that there may be small errors in the data provided here and we would be grateful if community members would contact us with any errors. 

Another Possible Source of Federal Funding for Green School Infrastructure Projects

July 30, 2019

In addition to the federal Climate Action Incentive Fund, in which Ontario agreed to participate, there may be additional sources of federal funding for green school infrastructure projects via the Clean Growth Hub.

Back in May 2019, Fix Our Schools noticed that a high school in the London Catholic District School Board had plans for a $9.7-million energy-efficient retrofit and that $4.8-million of this amount was coming from the federal government. To our knowledge, this was the first time that our federal government had invested in public schools (outside of First Nations schools, which are a federal responsibility) as critical infrastructure.

Fix Our Schools was optimistic that this project would set an important precedent so we dug in to see if we could find out more. What we found was that the federal government operates a Clean Growth Hub, an advisory service that aggregates various available funding opportunities for clean tech available through the federal government and that, from time to time, funding programs being offered by the federal government could align with green projects being conducted by school boards across Canada.  

The Clean Growth Hub is a whole-of-government focal point for clean technology. Fix Our Schools encourages all Canadian school boards to monitor the Clean Growth Hub and to see if any programs being offered at a given time would allow federal money to be accessed for local energy-efficient projects in schools. London Catholic School Board had the foresight to do this and was able to benefit from $4.8-million of federal money!