Tag Archives: Fix Our Schools

Elevated Lead in Water Taps at Schools and Daycares

March 3, 2020

According to a Star Investigation cited in the February 28, 2020 article entitled, “A third of daycares, schools show elevated lead in water taps“, 36% of schools and daycares that tested for lead in the last three years had at least one exceedance of Health Canada’s guideline of 5 parts per billion (ppb). More than half of public schools that tested in the last three years registered at least one exceedance and, apparently, dozens of exceedances have been recorded at private schools such as Upper Canada College. It appears that no Ontario child is immune to the risk that they may ingest lead, a neurotoxin linked to negatively impacting cognitive development, while at their place of learning.

There is no known safe level of lead in a child's blood, according to EPA & Centers for Disease Control. Quebec gov't has just announced they would adopt the new "acceptable minimal concentration of lead in drinking water — five micrograms per litre." https://t.co/Gp5eme5kT9

— Fix Our Schools (@Fix_Our_Schools) October 31, 2019

The February 28, 2020 Toronto Star article followed up on initial reports back in November, 2019 examing how much lead is in our drinking water.

Despite lead in drinking water being a very serious health concern, there is no provincial policy that mandates school boards and schools to report lead exceedances to parents and students. When the Toronto Star recently contacted the Ministry of the Environment, Minister Jeff Yurek declined an interview. However, a written statement from the Ministry was sent to the newspaper saying, “the Province has provided $1.4-billion in funding in the 2018-19 school year to renew Ontario schools and ensure that major repair and replacement work can be undertaken, which could include replacement of plumbing systems and fixtures.”

Fix Our Schools would like to point out that when school boards are facing a total of $16.3-billion of disrepair in their schools (which does not even include addressing issues such as lead in water, asbestos, classroom temperatures), $1.4-billion of provincial funding in a year does not go very far. In fact, given that our provincial government has been allocating $1.4-billion/year in funding for school repairs and renewal since June 2016 and total disrepair has increased during that time rather than decreased, it is safe to presume that $1.4-billion is not nearly sufficient to even take care of the disrepair that is included in the $16.3-billion school repair backlog.

For the provincial government to suggest that school boards have the choice of using the $1.4-billion to address lead in water is disingenuous and serves only to lay blame at the feet of school boards, when school boards rely exclusively on the provincial government to provide adequate and stable funding. We look to our provincial government to take responsibility, given that they are the level of government with responsibility over both funding and policy around lead in our children’s drinking water at school. With great power comes great responsibility, as we first wrote in 2015.

Fix Our Schools had hoped we’d moved beyond the unproductive dialogue of our provincial government blaming school boards for issues with school conditions. However, given the Ministry’s latest written response to the Toronto Star, it appears we have not. We urge both Environment Minister Yurek and Education Minister Lecce to take lead in drinking water very seriously and to take the steps needed to ensure not only proper communication about this issue but also to ensure adequate funding to school boards and municipalites to properly address the large infrastructure requirements needed to deal with lead in drinking water once and for all.

From Inside Queen’s Park

February 27, 2020

Representatives from almost 30 health, Indigenous, education, agriculture and tourism organizations went to Queen’s Park back in mid-January to share their asks of the provincial government’s upcoming budget. In the January 22, 2020 edition of “From Inside Queen’s Park”, the presentation that the Fix Our Schools Campaign made to the Standing Committee of Finance and Economic Affairs was summarized as follows:

“Fix Our Schools Krista Wylie, co-founder of the parent-led campaign that aims to get rid of the school repair backlog, said she wants to see the government double its current investments for fixing the province’s schools. Wylie said the government could eliminate the $16.3 billion repair backlog (NDP Leader Andrea Horwath mentioned the figure during question period in November) within seven or eight years if it invested an additional $1.6 billion each year for school infrastructure.

The PC government stated in its 2019 budget a plan to invest $13 billion over 10 years to build new schools and repair existing ones. This includes a $1.4 billion investment for the 2019-2020 school year for repairs. Wylie said the $1.4 billion “is simply not enough to make up for 20-plus years when provincial funding was so grossly inadequate.” She acknowledged that an additional $1.6 billion is a “huge investment,” but justified this by saying it was “financially irresponsible of this government to allow public assets to fall further into disrepair.” She also asked the government to create a “standard of good repair,” which would include issues like classroom temperature, asbestos, air quality and lead in drinking water, and publicly release annually updated school repair data.”

What Does the Ontario Human Rights Commission Say?

February 25, 2020

On the Ontario Human Rights Commission website, we find the following:

“Barriers to education can take a variety of forms. They can be physical, technological, systemic, financial, or attitudinal. They can arise from an education provider’s failure to make available a needed accommodation, or to provide one in a timely manner.

In Eldridge v. British Columbia (Attorney General), the Supreme Court of Canada found that “once the state does provide a benefit, it is obliged to do so in a non-discriminatory manner…. The principle that discrimination can accrue from a failure to take positive steps to ensure that disadvantaged groups benefit equally from services offered to the general public is widely accepted in the human rights field.”^[22]

It is the Commission’s policy position that this comment, while made in the context of health care, applies equally to the provision of educational services. As the Commission’s Disability Policy states, “Governments have a positive duty to ensure that services available to the general public are also available to persons with disabilities.”^[23]

In order for persons with disabilities to receive equal treatment in education, they must have equal access to educational opportunities. The duty to accommodate includes identifying and removing barriers that impede the ability of persons with disabilities to access educational services. The Commission’s Disability Policy affirms the duty of education providers to structure their programs and policies so as to be inclusive and accessible for persons with disabilities, and to take an active role in the accommodation process”

As Fix Our Schools has been stating repeatedly, the issue of equal accessibility is one that negatively impacts Ontario’s publicly funded schools, even when we consider only one aspect of accessibility – the ability for a student any mobility issues to get to their classroom, to the washroom, and participate fully in a rotary class schedule. We know that school boards are not provided with any special provincial funding to ensure that their school buildings are retrofitted to become accessible for children with mobility issues so no wonder Ontario’s school buildings are lagging behind where the provincial government pledged we would be by now. The answer is clear. More provincial funding is required if school boards are to have any hope of ensuring that “services available to the general public are also available to persons with disabilities.”

Lack of Accessibility in Ontario’s Schools

February 20, 2020

Ontario’s accessibility standards lag behind where our provincial government pledged we would be by now, as laid out in the 2005 Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). This lack of accessibility is an ongoing barrier for the 1.9+ million Ontarians who live with disabilities.

It is also a decision to discriminate. https://t.co/lCWT47I4Yb

— David C. Onley, OOnt (@HonDavidOnley) March 6, 2019

In a Globe & Mail article entitled, “Review of Ontario accessibility finds province is failing disabled citizens”, David Onley, former lieutenant governor of Ontario and a disability rights advocate, expresses concern about how slowly Ontario is moving when it comes to setting or enforcing accessibility standards. “Every day, in every community in Ontario, people with disabilities encounter formidable barriers to participation. For most disabled persons, Ontario is not a place of opportunity but one of countless, dispiriting, soul-crushing barriers.”

Nor surprisingly, the issue of accessibility is one that impacts Ontario’s publicly funded schools. Let’s consider only one aspect of accessibility for a moment – the ability for a student to get to their classroom and participate fully in a rotary class schedule. Elevators are a rarity in Ontario’s schools, making it challenging or impossible for students on crutches or in wheelchairs to attend school. When an Ontario school does have an elevator, maintenance for the elevator is ongoing and provincial funding for said maintenance is inadequate therefore often, elevators in a school are not working. Similarly, school boards are not provided with any special provincial funding to ensure that school buildings are retrofitted to become accessible for children with mobility issues.

Despite a recent addition, a history of underfunded maintenance means #SwanseaTO Public School needs 20+ URGENT repairs including roof, elevator, furnace & exit door replacements. See full list here: https://t.co/jWXh75n0JN #tdsb #onted #onpoli #cdninfrastructure https://t.co/HD5MlMERO7

— Fix Our Schools (@Fix_Our_Schools) October 17, 2019

My daughter needed crutches to get around for 8 months in her grade 8 year. I still marvel at the physical and emotional strength needed for her to participate in school that year. Clearly, many aspects of a full school experience were off the table for her that year as she focused on the bare minimum of getting to each class on her rotary schedule in a 3-story building with no elevator. She was physically and emotionally exhausted most days as she routinely met with the “dispiriting, soul-crushing barriers” that David Onley mentioned in the Globe & Mail article cited above. Ontario can and must do better. We owe it to all Ontarians with disabilities, including students.

What is Missing from the $16.3-billion Repair Backlog in Ontario’s Schools?

February 18, 2020

We learned in November 2019 that the total repair backlog in Ontario’s publicly funded schools had increased from $15.9-billion in October 2017 (the last time our provincial government publicly released disrepair data) to an unbelievable $16.3-billion, proving that the current provincial funding approach for school infrastructure is simply insufficient.

This is an unfathomably large number and reflects assessments made by a third-party engineering firm hired by the provincial government about what building components in each school need to be repaired or replaced in the coming five years. Items such as roofs, structural columns, windows, fire alarm and suppression systems, bricks, and boilers would all be reflected in this $16.3-billion repair backlog.

However, what is missing from this $16.3-billion repair backlog?

Work that needs to be done on schools to make them accessible for all students. Let’s consider only one aspect of accessibility for a moment – the ability for a student to get to their classroom and participate fully in a rotary class schedule. Elevators are a rarity in Ontario’s schools, so it is challenging or impossible for students on crutches or in wheelchairs to attend school.

An Ontario scattered with "soul-crushing barriers" as @HonDavidOnley describes is unacceptable. We can't keep moving at a sluggish pace towards making Ontario fully accessible by 2025, our motion today is the urgent action we need. #onpoli https://t.co/JVPVT43AXV

— Joel Harden (@JoelHardenONDP) May 30, 2019

Work that ends up needing to be done reactively and was not logged as expected maintenance. This eventuality happens all the time – especially with roof leaks after a big weather event and school boards simply have to deal with these issues reactively with no additional provincial funding provided to address the unexpected repairs.
Work that needs to be done on playgrounds and fields.
Work that needs to be done on portables. Somehow, disrepair in portables is never assessed or logged by our provincial government. The rationale for this gross ommission is that portables are intended to be temporary structures. However, we all know examples in our community where portables become permanent features on a school site so these structures ought to be assessed every time its associated school building is assessed.
Work that needs to be done to remove or abate asbestos when doing other work. Often, school boards are admonished because costs of repairs seem higher than expected. However, frequently, when a repair on an old school is embarked upon, asbestos is discovered and then must be addressed.
Work that needs to be done to ensure classroom temperatures are steady and reasonable all year long. The dollar amount required for school boards to implement cooling solutions so that our students are not forced to learn in 35-degree classrooms is completely absent from the $16.3-billion repair backlog figure. The same can be said for work to be done to ensure that all classrooms in a school are suitably heated during the winter.
Work that needs to be done to address lead in drinking water in schools.

For years now, Fix Our Schools has been asking the provincial government to develop and implement a standard of good repair for our schools that considers all of the above “missing items. This standard would serve as a yardstick by which we could ensure that school buildings in this province are all safe, healthy, well-maintained buildings that provide dignified environments for all children to learn. We believe that all Ontarians would agree that the missing items listed above are all important elements for buildings where 2-million Ontario children spend their days. So far, our call to action for a standard of good repair has been ignored so our work continues to focus on this need.

When School Repairs are Reactive Instead of Proactive

February 13, 2020

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.

How are these New School Buildings Progressing?

February 11, 2020

Two years ago, the Liberal provincial government in power announced that they were investing $784 million to help build 39 new schools across the province, and renovate or expand another 40 school buildings. These important projects were expected to not only serve elementary and high school students across Ontario but also to provide more than 2,700 new licensed child care spaces to support the growing needs of Ontario families.

Fix Our Schools wants to hear from you and your communities about how each of these approved projects is progressing? Please email us at info@fixourschools.ca or engage with us on social media to let us know! We have heard that the people of Stoney Creek are frustrated about delays in Collegiate Avenue Elementary Schools approved renovations and addition.

Stop the delays @Sflecce. The people of Stoney Creek are disappointed and want to see Collegiate Avenue Elementary School's renos completed ASAP. No more excuses, no more delays. This project must go ahead! #educationmatters #studentsuccess #onpoli #HamOnt pic.twitter.com/aYjaNLBePX

— Paul Miller (@mppPaulMiller) January 10, 2020

To date, since the Ford government was elected in June 2018, Fix Our Schools is not aware of a single new school build that has been approved by this provincial government, which is disappointing, given how critical new school buildings are to addressing disrepair in schools and also to accommodating growth of student populations in many communities. What we are noticing is that Education Minister Lecce is re-announcing new school building projects that were actually approved by the previous Liberal government. If we are wrong and you’ve heard about a new school building or addition having been approved by the Ford government, please let us know about that too!

The new projects that were announced as approved by the Liberal government in January 2018 are as follows.

LOCATION	SCHOOL BOARD	PROJECT NAME	PROJECT TYPE
Ajax	Durham DSB	Unnamed Elementary School – Ajax North	New school with one EarlyON room
Alliston	Simcoe Muskoka Catholic DSB	Unnamed Catholic Elementary School	New school with 49 child care spaces
Almonte	Catholic DSB of Eastern Ontario	Holy Name of Mary Catholic School	Addition with 63 new child care spaces
Ancaster	Hamilton-Wentworth DSB	Ancaster Senior Public School	Addition
Ancaster	Hamilton-Wentworth DSB	C.H. Bray Public School	New school
Atikokan	Rainy River DSB	Atikokan High School	Addition with 49 new child care spaces and one new EarlyON room
Beaverton	Durham DSB	Beaverton Public School	New school with 49 child care spaces and one EarlyON room
Belleville	Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic DSB	St. Joseph Catholic School	Addition
Belleville	Hastings and Prince Edward DSB	Moira Secondary School	Addition
Belleville	Hastings and Prince Edward DSB	Queen Elizabeth Public School	New school
Blind River	Algoma DSB	Unnamed JK-12 School	New school with 64 child care spaces and two EarlyON rooms
Bradford	Simcoe County DSB	Unnamed Elementary School – Bradford North	New school with 39 child care spaces
Brampton	Dufferin Peel Catholic DSB	Holy Name of Mary Catholic Secondary School	Addition
Brampton	Peel DSB	Unnamed Elementary School – Vales of Humber	New school with 73 child care spaces and one EarlyON room
Burlington	Halton DSB	Nelson High School	Addition
Burlington	Halton DSB	M.M. Robinson High School	Addition
Caledon	Dufferin Peel Catholic DSB	St. Cornelius Elementary School	Addition
Cambridge	CSC MonAvenir	École secondaire catholique Père-René-de-Galinée	Addition
Chatham	Lambton Kent DSB	Tecumseh Public School	Renovation
Cornwall	Catholic DSB of Eastern Ontario	St. Joseph Catholic Secondary School	Renovation
Etobicoke	Toronto Catholic DSB	Holy Angels Catholic School	New school with 88 child care spaces
Etobicoke	Toronto DSB	Kipling Collegiate Institute	Renovation with 88 new child care spaces
Forest	Lambton Kent DSB	Unnamed JK-12 School	New school with 24 child care spaces and two EarlyON rooms
Gloucester	CSD catholique du Centre-Est de l’Ontario	Unnamed Catholic Elementary School – Riverside South	New school with 49 child care spaces
Guelph	Upper Grand DSB	Unnamed Secondary School – Guelph South	New school
Hamilton	Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic DSB	St. Patrick Catholic Elementary School	New school with two EarlyON rooms
Hawkesbury	CSD des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario	École élémentaire publique Nouvel Horizon	Addition with 15 new child care spaces
Hearst	CSD du Nord-Est de l’Ontario	École publique Passeport Jeunesse	Purchase of new school facility
Kincardine	Bruce-Grey Catholic DSB	St. Anthony Catholic Elementary School	Addition with 78 new child care spaces
Kingston	Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic DSB	Unnamed Catholic Elementary School – Kingston West	New school with 73 child care spaces and three EarlyON rooms
Kingston	CSD catholique du Centre-Est de l’Ontario	École secondaire catholique Marie-Rivier	New school with 49 child care spaces
Kingston	CSD des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario	École secondaire publique Mille-Îles	New school
Kitchener	Waterloo Region DSB	Unnamed Elementary School – Huron South	New school with 88 child care spaces and three EarlyON rooms
Leamington	Greater Essex County DSB	Queen Elizabeth Public School	Addition with 73 new child care spaces and two EarlyON rooms
Listowel	Huron-Perth Catholic DSB	St. Mary’s Catholic School	Addition with 64 new child care spaces and one EarlyON room
London	London District Catholic School Board	Unnamed Catholic Elementary School	New school
London	London District Catholic School Board	St. Bernadette Catholic School	Addition
London	Thames Valley DSB	Unnamed Elementary School – Southeast London	New school with 88 child care spaces
London	Thames Valley DSB	Masonville Public School	Addition
London	Thames Valley DSB	Tweedsmuir Public School	Addition
Madoc	Hastings and Prince Edward DSB	Centre Hastings Secondary School	Addition
Markdale	Bluewater DSB	Beavercrest Public School	New school with 39 child care spaces and two EarlyON rooms
Markham	York Catholic DSB	St. Francis Xavier Catholic Elementary School	Renovation
Markham	York Region DSB	Unnamed Elementary School – Cornell	New school with 39 child care spaces
Milton	Halton Catholic DSB	Bishop P.F. Reding Catholic Secondary School	Addition with 64 new child care spaces
Milton	Halton DSB	Unnamed Elementary School	New school with 88 child care spaces
Mississauga	Peel DSB	Unnamed Elementary School – City Centre	New school with 73 child care spaces and one EarlyON room
Nepean	Ottawa Catholic DSB	St. Joseph High School	Addition
Niagara Falls	DSB of Niagara	Forestview Public School	Addition with 49 new child care spaces
North Bay	Near North DSB	Fricker Public School	New school with 73 child care spaces and one EarlyON room
North Grenville	Upper Canada DSB	North Grenville PS	Addition
North York	Toronto Catholic DSB	St. Matthias Public School	New school with 88 child care spaces
North York	Toronto Catholic DSB	St. Margaret Catholic School	Addition to create 49 new child care spaces
North York	Toronto DSB	Sir Sandford Fleming Public School	Renovation with 88 new child care spaces
North York	Toronto DSB	Hollywood Public School	Addition with 64 new child care spaces
Oakville	CSC MonAvenir	École secondaire catholique Sainte-Trinité	Addition
Oakville	Halton Catholic DSB	St. Michael Catholic Elementary School	Addition with 49 new child care spaces
Oakville	Halton DSB	Unnamed Elementary School – Oakville Northeast	New school with 88 child care spaces
Omemee	Trillium Lakelands DSB	Scott Young Public School	Addition with 49 new child care spaces and one EarlyON room
Orillia	Simcoe Muskoka Catholic DSB	Notre Dame Catholic School	Addition
Oro-Medonte	Simcoe County DSB	Unnamed Elementary School	New school with one EarlyON room
Ottawa	Ottawa-Carleton DSB	Elmdale Public School	Addition
Renfrew	Renfrew County Catholic DSB	St. Joseph High School	Addition with 73 new child care spaces and one EarlyON room
Sarnia	St. Clair Catholic DSB	Sacred Heart Catholic School	New school with 88 child care spaces
Stittsville	Ottawa-Carleton DSB	Unnamed Secondary School	New school
Stoney Creek	Hamilton-Wentworth DSB	Mount Albion Public School	Addition with 49 new child care spaces
Thorold	DSB of Niagara	Richmond Street Public School	Addition
Thorold	Niagara Catholic DSB	Monsignor Clancy Catholic School	Addition with 49 new child care spaces
Toronto	Conseil scolaire Viamonde	Unnamed Secondary School – Toronto East	New school
Toronto	Toronto DSB	Unnamed JK-12 School (more details to follow)	New project with 64 new child care spaces and one EarlyON room
Troy	Hamilton-Wentworth DSB	Beverly Central Community Centre Public School	Addition
Vaughan	CSC MonAvenir	Unnamed Catholic Secondary School Vaughan	New school
Vaughan	York Region DSB	Unnamed Elementary School – Maple	New school with 39 child care spaces
Wasaga Beach	Simcoe County DSB	Wasaga Beach Public School	New school with three EarlyON rooms
Whitby	Durham Catholic DSB	St. Marguerite D’Youville Catholic School	New school with 24 child care spaces and one EarlyON room
Whitby	Durham DSB	Unnamed Elementary School	New school with 73 child care spaces and one EarlyON room
Windsor	Greater Essex County DSB	Unnamed Elementary School	New school with 73 child care spaces
York	Toronto DSB	Dennis Avenue Community School	New school with 88 child care spaces
York	Toronto DSB	George Syme Community School	Addition with 88 new child care spaces

Toronto Sees Impact of Provincial Neglect

February 7, 2020

22 years of chronic and gross provincial underfunding of school buildings is taking its toll.

The next time @Sflecce trumpets his government's funding of education, remember that the province will only kick in $292 million in 2019-20 to the $3.5 billion in repairs needed in TDSB schools. #cutshurtkids #NoCutsToEducation #onpoli https://t.co/WycoHjaMH3

— Katrina Miller (@katrinacecile) February 4, 2020

CBC recently highlighted that the following 14 schools within the Toronto District School Board would actually be cheaper to rebuild than to repair:

1) Etobicoke Year Round Alternative Centre in MPP Hogarth’s riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore

2) Oakdale Park Middle School in MPP Rakocevic’s riding of Humber River-Black Creek

3) Amesbury Middle School in MPP Hassan’s riding of York South-Weston

4) Winona Drive Senior Public School in MPP Andrew’s riding of Toronto-St. Paul’s

5) Charles G. Fraser Junior School in MPP Glover’s riding of Spadina-Fort York

6) Ryerson Community School in MPP Glover’s riding of Spadina-Fort York

7) Montrose Junior Public School in MPP Bell’s riding of University-Rosedale

8) Winchester Junior and Senior Public School in MPP Morrison’s riding of Toronto-Centre

9) Blythwood Junior Public School in MPP Wynne’s riding of Don Valley West

10) Eastdale Collegiate Institute in MPP Tabuns’ riding of Toronto Danforth

11) Glen Ames Senior Public School in MPP Berns-McGown riding of Beaches-East York

12) Secord Public School in MPP Berns-McGown riding of Beaches-East York

13) Vradenburg Junior Public School in MPP Babikian’s riding of Scarborough-Agincourt

14) Timberbank Junior Public School in MPP Babikian’s riding of Scarborough-Agincourt

Fix Our Schools believes that all Ontario children deserve to attend school in a safe, healthy, and well-maintained building. We encourage Toronto parents in these communities to contact their local MPP as well as Education Minister Stephen Lecce (stephen.lecce@pc.ola.org)and Premier Ford (use both his constituency email: Doug.fordco@pc.ola.org AND his premier email: premier@ontario.ca) to let them know the state of these schools is unacceptable and that you expect adequate and stable funding to be provided to school boards to be able to ensure all their schools are, indeed, safe, healthy and well-maintained buildings.

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“.

14 aging Toronto public schools would cost more to repair than rebuild https://t.co/KeHa4gg6gv pic.twitter.com/XBgezb7vi9

— CBC Toronto (@CBCToronto) February 4, 2020

The list of schools include:

Etobicoke Year Round Alternative Centre
Oakdale Park Middle School
Amesbury Middle School
Winona Drive Senior Public School
Charles G. Fraser Junior School
Ryerson Community School
Montrose Junior Public School
Winchester Junior and Senior Public School
Blythwood Junior Public School
Eastdale Collegiate Institute
Glen Ames Senior Public School
Secord Public School
Vradenburg Junior Public School
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.

Many Toronto schools are in bad shape, but this is a dangerous way to frame the issue 1/ https://t.co/Gwz8eHNCOl

— Alex Bozikovic (@alexbozikovic) February 4, 2020

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.

14 aging Toronto public schools would cost more to repair than rebuildhttps://t.co/BrYnapUDgp Does anybody else find it funny that $2B is allocated for all of #Ontario while just 1 board needs $3.5B to cover repairs? Time for ⁦@Sflecce⁩ to take a math course. pic.twitter.com/M5ajAYsX0w

— Steve-O (@S_Edward_Nixon) February 4, 2020

Adequate and Stable Funding From the Province

January 31, 2020

On January 17, 2020 Fix Our Schools went to Queen’s Park and sat before the Committee of Finance and Economic Affairs as part of the pre-budget consultation process. Our first ask of this committee was to ensure both adequate and stable provincial funding to publicly funded education and schools.

Without adequate funding, school boards simply cannot meet the goals they need to achieve – such as keeping their school buildings in a state of good repair. Even though this seems like a ridiculously obvious statement, we know that for over twenty years Ontario’s provincial government only provided a small fraction of the $1.4-billion/year that industry standards suggest was required for school boards to be able to properly maintain their school buildings. In fact, when the Fix Our Schools campaign began in 2014, provincial funding to school boards for school repair and renewal was only $150-million/year – one-tenth of the $1.4-billion/year needed!

The provincial funding dynamic for public schools is akin to a parent giving their child $10 and expecting that child to purchase a week’s worth of groceries for a family of four people. We think you’d agree that the child in this example would not be able to realistically meet the goal outlined, given the completely inadequate funding provided by the parent? School boards are like children in that they rely exclusively on the “parent” provincial government to provide adequate funding. We think you’d agree that school boards would not be able to realistically be able to keep their school buildings in a state of good repair, given that provincial funding for over two decades has been grossly inadequate?

And yet, our provincial government holds school boards completely responsible for the $16.3-billion of disrepair that has accrued in publicly funded school boards over that period. Fix Our Schools find this situation to be frustrating and unacceptable and has proposed that an additional $1.6-billion/year in provincial funding is needed in order for school boards to have a realistic chance of eliminating the $16.3-billion repair backlog in Ontario’s schools within 7-8 years.

Our second request to the Committee of Finance and Economic Affairs was that provincial funding to school boards be stable and predictable. Again, this seems ridiculously obvious that in order for school boards to be able to forward plan and operate in the most effective and efficient manner, they need to know their funding from year to year and be able to count on that funding. However, the reality for school boards over the last 22-years is that each year, they wait with baited breath to find out annual provincial funding; and also frequently deal with mid-year cuts to this funding. This is absolutely unacceptable if school boards are to operate efficiently and effectively.

An example of the degree to which inadequate and unstable provincial funding can disrupt the publicly funded education system and schools is provided in this CTV News Article of January 27, 2020 entitled, “CUPE Claims Ford government not holding up its end of the bargain”.

In this article, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which is the union representing education workers such as caretakers, early childhood educators and lunchroom supervisors, says “the government agreed to restore $78 million in funding to re-hire 1,300 staff across provincial school boards” and “the money was supposed to flow to local school boards at the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year” – “but the money has yet to leave the government’s bank account.” In this article, the government said the money cannot be released until all education-sector unions have signed new contracts, which appears to have been very different from CUPE’s understanding. This misunderstanding has resulted in ongoing inadequate provincial funding and introduced instability to the flow of funding as well. As Fix Our Schools has always maintained, adequacy and stability of funding is key to effectiveness and efficiency.