Tag Archives: Portables

Portables: A Key Element of School Infrastructure

May 17, 2022

Very early in the Fix Our Schools campaign, we realized that portables were excluded from the school disrepair data collected and tracked by our provincial government. The rationale provided by the Province has always been that portables were “temporary structures” and therefore, routine assessment of portable conditions was unnecessary. The exclusion of portables from assessments means that the $16.8-B of disrepair currently plaguing Ontario’s public schools does not even include the disrepair found in portables. 

Fix Our Schools disagreed with this rationale, noting that portables often became a rather permanent part of local school infrastructure. Furthermore, some of the most disturbing photos we have received over the 8 years of our campaign have been of deplorable conditions in portables. We continue to advocate that there ought to routine assessments of portables, and that there must be standards of good repair in place for school buildings, schoolyards and portables on school sites. We, of course, also continue to advocate for adequate and stable provincial funding to properly repair and renew not only school buildings but also schoolyards and portables. And finally, Fix Our Schools continues to advocate for a reimagined provincial funding model as a whole.

When it comes to planning new school buildings, provincial funding unfortunately only allows a new school to be built that can accommodate the number of students at the school at the time of funding approval by the Province.  There is no acknowledgement that a new school building has been approved —due to the many new developments being built near that site— meaning many more students will actually be at the school from the first day it opens. That is why we see brand new school buildings open with many portables already on-site. This is not good planning and makes no sense.

Portables also raise equity issues. Students and education workers who spend their days in portables often have more challenging access to resources such as washrooms, gyms, labs, and libraries that are housed in the main school building.

We think it is safe to say that no family or educator is happy when they are assigned to be in a portable for an academic year, which seems to be an indicator that, intuitively, we all recognize that portables are non-optimum learning environments in most cases.

Interestingly, some academic research is also emerging about portables, We recently received this note from Gus Riveros, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education at Western University:

“I have recently examined portable classroom use in the 27 largest school boards in the province between 2010 and 2020 and I thought Fix our Schools may be interested in some of my findings. For example, I found that 60% of schools in my sample have had at least one portable classroom between 2010 and 2020, and that a large number of the schools that had portables during this time period, had portables for more than 8 consecutive years (46%). That is, 937 schools in the 27 largest school boards in the province had at least one portable classroom for 8 to 10 years in a row! My analysis demonstrates that portable classrooms are not used as a temporary, but as a permanent solution to enrolment pressures and infrastructure backlogs. Some of the findings from this study are explained in more detail here.“

Riveros’ findings substantiate the need for our provincial government to reimagine the funding model for schools in Ontario, and to develop standards of good repair for not only school buildings and schoolyards but also for portables. As we move towards the June 2 provincial election in Ontario, this is yet one more issue to keep in mind as we head to the polls.

All Parties Must Prioritize Publicly Funded Schools and Education

November 22, 2021

With a provincial election approaching in June, 2022, Fix Our Schools continues to be a non-partisan, parent-led, Ontario-wide campaign working to ensure that:

1.Every publicly funded school in Ontario is safe, well-maintained, healthy and provides an environment conducive to learning and working; a goal that has taken on increased significance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

2. A Standard of Good Repair for Ontario’s publicly funded schools is developed and implemented, which would include transparent metrics for school buildings, portables and schoolyards. These standards and associated metrics must include and address:

    • The $16.8-billion of disrepair in school buildings
    • A program to assess current repair backlogs in portables and schoolyards
    • Air quality and ventilation
    • Classroom temperatures
    • Accessibility
    • Environmental efficiency & durability
    • Job site safety for school construction projects and maintenance work
    • Drinking water
    • Asbestos
    • Cleanliness
    • Classroom space
    • Vermin, mold
    • Fire and electrical code

3. Publicly funded schools receive adequate, stable, equitable provincial funding that enables school boards to meet these provincial standards and publicly demonstrate positive outcomes by collecting and releasing associated metrics at regular intervals.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how critical school buildings and education are to Ontario’s children, their families, and our economy. With this in mind, we provided this input to the Ministry of Education as part of its 2022-23 Education Funding consultation process. Our sincere hope is that the Ford government will accept and act upon our feedback.

In the coming months, we will work to ensure that all political parties in this province prioritize safe, healthy, well-maintained school buildings, portables and schoolyards, and reflect this prioritization by including the following in their education platforms:

  • A Standard of Good Repair and associated metrics for school buildings, portables and schoolyards
  • Adequate, stable, and equitable provincial funding to achieve these standards and to collect and release the associated metrics publicly at regular intervals

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.

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.

 

Portables: Just One Reason Why Ontario Needs a Standard of Good Repair for Schools

October 17, 2019

Leading up to the last provincial election in June 2018, Fix Our Schools advocated for a Standard of Good Repair to be developed, implemented and funded by this provincial government. We were successful in obtaining the commitment of 58 elected MPPs to this concept and we continue to advocate for this idea to be realized.  You see, important aspects of our children’s learning environments are not reflected in the $15.9-billion of disrepair that has been assessed as required in Ontario’s schools. The following aspects are excluded:

  • Quality of drinking water due to old lead pipes
  • Quality of air due to asbestos in old school buildings and dampness/mold
  • Classroom temperatures, which are often too hot to learn in the spring and fall; and too cold to learn in the winter months
  • Conditions of portables, which are intended to be temporary facilities but often end up being on-site at a school for many, many years

 

We strongly believe the conditions of school portables ought to be assessed, and frequently hear from parents, students, and teachers about portables that are in a horrible state of disrepair.

 

If your child learns in a portable; or you teach in a portable, we’d love to hear from you about the learning/working conditions.