Video - Crumbling Schools Cause New Concerns

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Crumbling Schools Cause New Concerns

Thursday February 1, 2007

CityNews - Toronto,Canada

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_7441.aspx

It's a maxim made famous by Santayana: Those who cannot learn

from history are doomed to repeat it.

That's a lesson that may be taught in Toronto's public schools. But

it could also be one those who run them haven't learned.

For the past five years, CityNews has been bringing you stories of

the disturbing and often disgusting conditions of our crumbling

schools.

Holes in the wall, water damage, mould, disintegrating

infrastructure and more have all shown up in large numbers.

It's 2007, but not much has changed.

Our investigation shows the problems are still there and afflicting

a host of rapidly aging campuses.

At Fern Ave. Public School near Roncesvalles and Dundas, the need

for a new roof is obvious. Water damage is apparent in spots

throughout the building.

" It's flowing, " complains principal Craig Tsuji. " It's not just

dripping, it flows. "

And it's creating a health hazard for young students - especially

when black mould follows.

And that's not all.

The heating system isn't up to snuff at the west end school. In

fact, a kindergarten class gets so cold that sometimes the four-year-

olds are forced to wear their winter coats inside the building.

The boilers are to blame but replacing them costs $100,000 each. And

that's just the start - there are at least $2 million worth of

repairs in the complex alone.

Other schools are in equally rough shape. Western Tech's bill would

amount to $13 million if they tried to fix everything.

All tolled throughout the system, the total cost of repairs would

total just under one billion dollars. And no one has that kind of

cash.

Officials know about the problem but they simply can't get the money

to afford the necessary upkeep. And things could get even worse.

" We're heading into a crisis where we're going to have to shut down

schools, " warns trustee Irene Atkinson. " Over the next 15 years we

are going to need $7.5 billion to keep up with the repairs that are

required on schools. "

Still, there is some cause for hope. After years of cuts under the

Tories, the McGuinty government is spending $4 billion to address

the issue province-wide and there are signs of improvement,

including new windows installed on Wednesday at Jarvis Collegiate.

But that's just a small ray of sunshine in a world filled with

darkness.

" Part of the problem is for years boards had to defer maintenance in

order to to fund programs so we're trying to make up for lost time, "

explains Education Minister Kathleen Wynne.

" And we've put this money into the system, the projects are

underway, there's more coming. And, you know, we had to make a

start. "

But everyone agrees enough isn't enough. And there's still more to

do than the budget will allow.

We know the examples in this story are only the tip of a very big

broken down iceberg. And we'd like you to show us what else is

wrong.

Use your cell phone camera or your digital device to take a picture

of a problem in your school and send it to news@....

We'll publish the worst of the worst right here on CityNews.ca in a

future story and take the evidence to the powers that be to see what

they plan to do about it.

To read Education Specialist Mulligan's blog on the

crumbling conditions on campus, click here.