Category Archives: Fix Our Schools

TDSB in the news again: Scathing review of TDSB Director

July 13, 2015

The TDSB is in the news again. On July 10, the Globe and Mail published an article in which TDSB Director Donna Quan was accused of “ruling by fear” and of engaging in “destructive attacks against Trustees”. The source for many of these accusations appears to have been Margaret Wilson, who was brought in by the Province over six months ago to investigate the TDSB because the Education Minister was concerned about a “culture of fear” among staff. 

In case you haven’t been following the goings-on between the Province and the TDSB since late November 2014, here is a “Coles Notes” version:

As parents, we want to see a quality education for our children delivered in safe, well-maintained schools. The Province holds power over the funding and all major policies impacting public education in this province. The Province has engaged in a multitude of short-term interventions with the TDSB in recent years, none of which seem to have had significant positive results. As we await the recommendations from the TDSB Governance Panel – the Province’s latest intervention in the TDSB –  we, yet again, urge Premier Wynne and Minister Sandals to take the accountability that is commensurate with the power their government has over public education and to start to work with the TDSB to Fix Our Schools.

Power and accountability are key

July 7, 2015

In 1997, Mike Harris introduced the provincial funding formula in Ontario, which gave the Province the power over the funding of public education. Economist Hugh Mackenzie has been studying this education funding formula since its inception. He has written several scathing reports on the formula.

In Mackenzie’s latest report, he emphasizes that students from across Ontario have been shortchanged by the Province for almost two decades. He also highlights the issue of accountability in the provincial funding formula, stating that while the Province holds power over the allocation of funds, the Province is not held accountable for the adequacy of the funding it provides to the education system as whole in Ontario. Mackenzie states, “Even Mike Harris recognized that provincial funding created an accountability gap, and committed to a five-year review cycle. Eighteen years later, the Eves government’s 2002 review is the only one we’ve had.”

With great power comes great responsibility…

Ten years hence, TDSB schools continue to deteriorate

July 3, 2015

In October 2005, TDSB Staff wrote and presented “Schools for the Future: A 10 Year Facility Infrastructure Plan for the TDSB”, which painted a dire picture of the state of disrepair in TDSB schools and even suggested that schools may need to close due to disrepair.

Sections 2.2.1 & 2.2.2 of this report, “Current and Forecast Conditions of TDSB Facilities”, read as follows: “Putting off necessary renewal projects, year in and year out, has created a growing and costly backlog. There’s an increasing demand for facility maintenance and repairs as a result of deteriorating facility conditions. The numbers of calls for emergencies and unanticipated breakdowns are increasing. Requests for repairs account for 80% of work orders, while preventive maintenance now represents only 20% of work orders. The normal average wait time for maintenance requests is seven weeks. The Ministry of Education recognized the need for additional funding to correct deficiencies in building conditions. Increased funding for building renewal was distributed through a Ministry program called ‘Good Places to Learn.’ This renewal funding only temporarily halted the trend of deteriorating facility conditions. At the current level (2005) of renewal funding of $44 million annually, the condition of TDSB buildings will continue to decline rapidly, making it increasingly difficult to keep schools open.”

Almost ten years have passed since this report was prepared and TDSB schools continue to deteriorate. Although provincial funding for school repairs has increased since 2005 to $75-million/year for 2014/15 and will increase to $156-million in the 2015/16 school year, the money received by the TDSB to address the $3.3-billion of disrepair in its schools is still insufficient. To date, no TDSB schools have closed due to safety issues but one wonders what the next ten years will hold.

Conversation starters and questions for the federal election

June 28, 2015

Throughout the federal election campaign, you will likely have many opportunities to speak with candidates and MP’s. We encourage you to take the opportunity to let them know you consider public schools an integral part of our public infrastructure.  

Potential conversation starters:

Potential questions:

  • Do you view public schools as an important part of this country’s public infrastructure?
  • Would you consider accessing federal infrastructure dollars to address disrepair in Canada’s public schools?
  • Given the almost $15-billion in outstanding repairs plaguing Ontario public schools, what advice would you give to the provincial government regarding funding for public schools in this province?

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

“My son’s classroom was twelve degrees this winter”

June 28, 2015

From Krista, parent of two children at Runnymede P.S., TDSB:

One day this winter, my grade three son told me about an interesting science experiment his class had done at school. Students had been given thermometers to measure the temperature of various classrooms in the school.2015_06_24_Bennett winter coat

His response when I asked him what the temperature had been in his classroom?

“Twelve degrees celsius.”

When I commented that twelve degrees was pretty cold, he replied, “It’s OK Mom, we’ve been wearing our winter coats in class this past week.”

It is  certainly NOT OK to have to wear winter coats while trying to learn and teach – but I admire the resilience of my son and his teacher to continue to learn and teach despite the learning and working conditions!

 

 

Can public schools get in on this pre-election spending spree?

June 24, 2015

In May 2015, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the new Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program to celebrate Canada’s sesquicentennial. This program will “provide financial support for the renovation, expansion and rehabilitation of existing infrastructure that provides community and cultural benefits for the public. Projects under the following categories may be eligible for funding: community centres (including Royal Canadian Legions), cultural centres and museums, parks, recreational trails, libraries, recreational facilities, tourism facilities, docks, cenotaphs and other existing community infrastructure.” Hmmm…no mention of school buildings yet public schools are often the hub of communities.

On June 18, Harper announced details regarding the new Public Transit Fund (PTF), a program to promote public transit infrastructure. Part of this announcement was a $2.6-billion commitment from the federal government to build SmartTrack in Toronto.

Great news that the federal government is supporting the development and maintenance of quality public infrastructure across the country. Fix Our Schools believes that public schools ought to be considered integral to our public infrastructure and would like to see Canadian public schools get in on some of these pre-election spending commitments!

Teachers’ union goal is “building better schools”

June 21, 2015

The Elementary Teachers of Toronto (ETT) is the Toronto-local of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) and represents more than 11,000 elementary teachers (K-8) employed by the Toronto District School Board (TDSB).

John Smith, President of the ETT, said in interviews and a press release this week that the goal of current negotiations with elementary teachers is “building better schools.”  He went on to say that, “We’re talking about class sizes. We’re talking about the loss of special education teachers. We’re talking about school buildings that need repair.”

Great to hear that disrepair in school buildings is being talked about in this labour negotiation! Students and teachers deserve to learn and work in safe, well-maintained buildings.

Would you go to the washroom if it looked like this?

June 19, 2015

Fix Our Schools often hears from both parents and students about how disgusting the washrooms can be at TDSB schools. Some parents say their children actually refuse to go to the washroom while at school. Looking at these photos, one can understand why!  Would you go to the washroom if it looked like this?
2015_06_16_WT Washroom mold dirt

Despite excellent efforts by caretakers to keep these washrooms clean and useable, with the current funding allocations by the provincial government, the photos you see here are the end result.

Consider a 100-year old school that is also overcapacity by 200 students (there are 146 TDSB schools that are overcapacity). No extra funds are allocated for caretakers at that school to deal with the extra mess created by those 200 extra students. No additional funds are provided to account for the fact that old buildings are harder to clean than new ones (the 2015_06_16_WT Washroom Sinkcaretakers at Runnymede P.S. painstakingly polish the 99-year old linoleum floors and, although we know they are the cleaner for their efforts, the floors really don’t look much different than they did before!)  So this blog post is certainly not intended to point fingers at caretakers who work hard and take pride in the important role they play in our children’s schools.

This blog post is meant to highlight the fact that these washrooms are, indeed, disgusting and surely to goodness our children deserve to have washrooms in their place of learning that are well-maintained, clean and USEABLE!

The work that would need to be done to bring these washrooms to a USEABLE state is not 2015_06_16_WT_Washroom mold dirt cornerincluded in the TDSB’s $3.3-billion repair backlog we hear about all the time. The shocking $3.3-billion repair backlog only includes really serious work to be done on our children’s schools – such as fixing leaking roofs, replacing broken boilers and addressing structural concerns. So unless Kathleen Wynne’s provincial government works with school boards to find new funding solutions for public schools, many washrooms will continue to be disgusting.

 

Jackman Community Daycare speaks up about disrepair

June 17, 2015

Fix Our Schools was copied on a letter that Donna Spreitzer, the Director of Jackman Community Daycare, wrote to Premier Wynne, Education Minister Sandals, and Deputy Minister Zegarac. Jackman Community Daycare operates within Jackman Avenue Public School, a TDSB school located near Broadview and Danforth that was built in 1963 – a relatively new building compared to the many TDSB schools.

In her letter to the Province, Ms. Spreitzer states that one section of the roof has been leaking for over five years – with a bucket in the stairwell serving as a constant reminder of the neglect to this school building. She outlines that over the 20 years she’s been affiliated with Jackman Avenue Public School, the school’s infrastructure seems to have been in constant need of repair. Ms. Spreitzer urges our provincial government to “Act now. This cannot wait!” Indeed, this is an urgent issue that Kathleen Wynne’s government must address now since her government is responsible for providing funding to public schools in this province.

As per the TDSB Repair Backlog Clock on Trustee Lister’s home page, the repair backlog at the TDSB is estimated to be growing at an astonishing rate of $1.4-million each day at the current level of funding from the Province. The money being received to take care of school buildings is simply insufficient and, at this rate, the TDSB repair backlog will have grown from $3.3-Billion to $4.36-Billion by 2017. By August 6, 2015, the TDSB’s backlog is estimated to have grown to $3.5-Billion. Fix Our Schools agrees wholeheartedly with Ms. Spreitzer’s sentiments: this cannot wait.

Trustees don’t do it for the money

June 13, 2015

In a letter to Barbara Hall and the TDSB Governance Panel, Michael Barrett – President of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association expresses concern about the consultations conducted by this panel and raises many excellent points:

  • Good governance can only be successful if roles and responsibilities are clearly understood, which extends beyond the board of trustees and their chair and must include the director of education and senior team members.
  • A school board is an organic, interactive entity and each time that dynamic changes through the election of even one new trustee, a new board is formed, bringing with it a new dynamic that influences the trustee team. (note: in Fall 2014, eleven new TDSB Trustees were elected out of 22 so this new board represents a very new dynamic!)
  • Trustees are the crucial link between the school board and their local community. Trustees are of the community; they generally live in their communities, know their community and advocate for their community. There is local control that ensures a centralized bureaucracy does not lose sight of varied and diverse communities.
  • Trustees serve as advocates, as ombudsmen, as originators of ideas, as guideposts and hold both the government and staff accountable. Advocacy for a mental health strategy, a coordinated ministry approach to education and services, for equity within aboriginal education and funding, fairness in special education funding, inclusiveness and technology in the classroom are a few of the ways that trustees make a difference.
  • Trustees do not do this for the money. (NOTE: The role of Trustee is paid as a part-time position and a TDSB Trustee earns about $26,000/year) The honorarium has been frozen since 2006. Elected trustees are devoted to public education and want to make changes to improve the system for all children.
  • Trustees contribute long hours attending committee and board meetings, reading and reviewing board/ministry correspondence and interacting with their constituents in a variety of ways (email, face to face, telephone and public meetings).
  • Trustees are interpreters and messengers for government initiatives. They provide and allow for local perspectives. They help families navigate complex rules to get children the support they need from their schools. They initiate innovative and effective programs that improve student achievement and well-being.
  • A school trustee is a member of a team – the board of trustees. Only the board of trustees has the authority to make decisions or to take action. A chair of the board of trustees is chosen by the board of trustees as someone they are proud to have as a leader who represents them. Although the chair assumes a leadership role, it is important that he or she adheres to the board’s directions and not act unilaterally.
  • The director of education must display excellence as an educational leader, to be politically sophisticated, to be aware of and active in legislative developments, to have an extensive knowledge of relevant provincial laws, to be an exemplary educator, and to personify effective communication.
  • The elected trustee board’s most influential governance relationship is the relationship they have with the director of education. A trusting, respectful and cooperative relationship between the board of trustees and the director of education and a mutual understanding of their distinct roles lead to effective policy implementation.
  • Trustees and school boards are doing amazing and wonderful things all across the province.