Tag Archives: Fix Our Schools

All Education Workers Play a Critical Role in Our Children’s Schools

September 19, 2019

$15.9-billion of disrepair has been allowed to accumulate in Ontario’s publicly funded schools because of gross provincial underfunding to school boards for over two decades.

  • Underfunding of school renewal and repairs
  • Underfunding of operational maintenance
  • Underfunding of new schools

Operational maintenance is carried out by the very important people in our children’s schools known as caretakers and custodians.

 

These hard-working individuals are the people who may set up tables in your children’s school gymnasium each day to transform it into a lunchroom. They may be the people who enable a community event to readily take place at your local school. They are most certainly the people who clean your children’s schools and take care of many routine maintenance items. They are also the people who are charged with the task of “flushing the lead pipes” every morning to ensure lead doesn’t get into our children’s drinking water at school.

https://twitter.com/Veeshandle/status/1174291662568349697?s=20

A good caretaker can work magic and make an older school with a number of outstanding larger repairs still feel safe, clean, healthy and generally a pleasant place to be for 6-8 hours each day.

According to economist Hugh Mackenzie, increased provincial funding for operational maintenance is a key component of an overall provincial funding strategy that would enable school boards to truly Fix Ontario’s Schools and eliminate the $15.9-billion repair backlog in schools. Mackenzie estimated that an 8.7% increase in provincial funding of operational maintenance was needed – totaling $165-million/year.

And yet, under Doug Ford’s government, we know that as of September 2019, there were 53 fewer caretakers in the TDSB’s 600 schools. We don’t have data yet for other school boards. However, we do know that more – not less – caretakers and custodians are needed to ensure all Ontario children attend schools that are safe, healthy and well-maintained.  We also know that Education Assistants and other Education Workers such as office staff all play an important role in ensuring our children’s schools are safe, clean and welcoming each day.

It’s Official Canadians, the 2019 Federal Election is Underway

September 17, 2019

Justin Trudeau visited Rideau Hall last week to meet with Governor General Julie Payette to ask her to dissolve Parliament, which officially triggers the federal election to be held in Canada this coming October 21.

With the coming election means federal candidates will be knocking on your door and seeking your support. If you value a strong publicly funded education system for Canadian children, we urge you to ask your local candidates how they plan to ensure federal funding goes towards fixing Canadian public school buildings. We realize that, with the exception of First Nations education, public education is a provincial responsibility in Canada. However, we believe strongly that all Canadian public buildings we call schools could justifiably receive federal infrastructure dollars to ensure they are safe, healthy, well-maintained buildings. After all, federal infrastructure dollars routinely go towards infrastructure like curling rinks and hockey arenas!

We urge you to engage wholeheartedly with the federal election process since every election is an opportunity. An opportunity to ensure that issues of importance to you are discussed. An opportunity to gain commitments for positive change. An opportunity to make a difference.

Canadians value high-quality public education and universally believe that all Canadian students, including Indigenous students, ought to spend their days learning in buildings that are safe, healthy, clean and well-maintained. If we delineate the eduation that gets delivered from the critical public infrastructure called schools, there is an easy path for our Federal government to commit infrastructure funding to repairing and renewing Canadian’s schools.

Minister Phillips: $74.5-million of Disrepair in Ajax Schools

September 12, 2019

Dear Minister Phillips,

Did you know there is $74.5-million of disrepair in the publicly funded schools in your riding of Ajax, including Archbishop Denis O’Connor Catholic High School pictured below?

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 Ajax Riding:

Archbishop Denis O’Connor C.H.S  $         4,184,824
Notre Dame C.S.S  $         1,035,624
St. Andre’ Bessette C.S.  $              63,013
St. Catherine of Siena C.S.  $         2,248,617
St. Francis de Sales C.S.  $         2,778,161
St. James C.S.  $         1,390,879
St. Jude C.S.  $         2,098,446
St. Patrick C.S.  $         1,876,170
St. Teresa of Calcutta C.S.  $            260,742
Ajax HS  $      11,516,687
Alexander Graham Bell PS  $            935,905
Applecroft PS  $         1,255,456
Bolton C Falby PS  $         8,505,245
Cadarackque PS  $         1,656,130
Carruthers Creek Public School  $            295,025
Dr Roberta Bondar PS  $         1,955,159
Duffin’s Bay PS  $         2,950,248
Eagle Ridge Public School  $            598,635
J. Clarke Richardson C.V.I.  $         1,035,624
Lakeside PS  $            596,992
Lester B Pearson PS  $         1,701,381
Lincoln Alexander PS  $         2,278,496
Lincoln Avenue PS  $         2,346,547
Lord Elgin PS  $         1,009,294
Nottingham P.S.  $            304,855
Pickering HS  $         7,597,780
Roland Michener  $         1,605,857
Romeo Dallaire P.S.  $            491,885
Southwood Park PS  $         3,746,898
Terry Fox P.S.  $            745,007
Vimy Ridge P.S.  $            139,960
Westney Heights PS  $         4,285,340
ÉÉC NotreDamedelaJeunesse  Ajax  $            975,151

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. 

What was trending on Twitter this week about Fixing Ontario’s Schools

September 10, 2019

Fix Our Schools has worked tirelessly since 2014 to ensure that all Ontario children attend safe, healthy, well-maintained schools that are funded by our provincial government as critical infrastructure. We have been so fortunate with the groundswell of support from tens of thousands of people across our province. 

Here are a few interesting conversations from Twitter the week of September 3 – back to school week!

Back to School is such an exciting time of year. An Ottawa architecture firm reminded parents about the $15.9-billion repair backlog in Ontario’s public school buildings:

Caretakers & Custodians across the province worked so hard to make the first day of school special! Here is one of many ways they helped: 

 

One of our followers questioned how the poor condition of school buildings will impact Canadian children’s ability to work in a modern world:

https://twitter.com/Donatella75/status/1169683951516098560?s=20

The Official Opposition Education Critic, Marit Stiles, reminded voters that the Province is the sole funder of public education in Ontario: 

The Cause Project reminded us that there is precedent for condo developers to contribute to the neighbourhoods from which they profit:

One of our followers mentioned a common problem in our aging Ontario school infrastructure… pests:

 

We would like to remind parents, teachers, and students that they can photograph poor conditions in their local school and contribute to the conversation:

 

Why is the Federal Election Important to Fix Our Schools?

September 5, 2019

Four years ago, during the last federal election. the Fix Our Schools campaign was only a year old. At that time, we noticed that federal infrastructure money frequently went to fund community buildings like hockey arenas and curling rinks yet using federal infrastructure money to invest in public schools as critical community infrastructure seemed verboten. In fact, we were so perplexed by this phenomenon that we wrote to all federal candidates in Ontario asking them to consider investing federal money in schools as critical infrastructure. 

Here we are four years later and not much has changed. Public education remains the realm of provincial governments and politicians seem reticent to delineate between the education delivered in school buildings from the actual infrastructure we happen to call school buildings. So once again, as a federal election approaches in Canada, we are confirming that school disrepair remains an issue from coast to coast in Canada. And, we are once again urging all federal parties to invest federal money in improving public school infrastructure from coast to coast.

If you agree that all levels of government ought to contribute to ensuring that all Canadian children attend schools that are safe, healthy and well-maintained, then consider asking these questions to your local federal candidates.

Back to School 2019 – First Time in Years Temperatures May Be Comfortable!

September 3, 2019

As students across Ontario prepare to head back to school this week, comfortable temperatures with daytime highs around 20 degrees are in the forecast for the first September in many years. This weather forecast will mean students, teachers and education workers will be learning and working in fairly comfortable temperatures for the first time in many years! Hurrah!

The vast majority of publicly funded schools across our province do not have air conditioning and the sweltering September temperatures of the past several years has meant unbearably hot class temperatures for many across the province. What a relief that this September, students, teachers and education workers alike can learn and work in comfort!

 

However, even with all the repairs and improvements that have been able to get done this past year at Ontario public schools thanks to stable provincial funding of $1.4-billion/year, the repair backlog at Ontario’s schools remains at a gobsmacking $15.9-billion. Photos of school disrepair vividly depict the types of environments Ontario students routinely face.

And, if we only look at Premier Ford’s riding of Etobicoke North, there is an alarming $178.4-million of disrepair in schools. This disrepair in Etobicoke North schools impacts students in myriad ways. At West Humber Collegiate, which needs $13.9-million of repairs, urgent items include:

  • Fire Alarm System renewal
  • Major Repair to Standard Foundations
  • Roofing

At Elmbank Junior Middle School, which needs $9.4-million of repairs, there are 21 repair items marked urgent!

More provincial funding is needed if we are ever going to eliminate the repair backlog in our children’s schools. In fact, economist Hugh Mackenzie suggests an additional $1.6-billion/year in provincial funding is required for the coming seven years if we are going to truly fix Ontario’s 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.