A recent report from the ‘Fix our Schools’ campaign shows some major infrastructure deficit for schools in southwestern Ontario, and specifically, Windsor.
The region’s schools face a $1.5 billion infrastructure deficit, which the Fix our School’s campaign says is calculated using Ministry of Education statistics. In Windsor, that repair bill could be roughly $407 million, according to the co-founder of fix our schools.
Christa Wylie, the co-founder Fix Our Schools tells AM800 News high schools are in most need of repairs.
"They're larger buildings, they were built so there's more mechanical, more roofing square footage, so some of it is simply the size of those buildings are larger than elementary schools in most cases," she says.
She says classroom conditions are a huge concern.
"There are many students across the province and certainly in Windsor who would be writing the EQAO testing today. And their classroom would likely be in excess of 30 degrees because there has been no funding for things like as luxurious as air conditioning."
Wylie slams successive governments for failing to put adequate funding toward school repair.
"Funding for school repairs across the province was only about $150-million, despite the fact that industry standards would suggest $1.4-billion per year is the minimum amount that ought to have been going from the provincial government to school boards every year."
Secondary schools in the Windsor area in both boards need between $10 and $20-million in repairs, Wylie tells AM800 News.
Scott Scantlebury of the Greater Essex County public school board says they have estimated the critical needs for their schools at around $70-million.
Catholic Board spokesperson Stephen Fields says his board realizes there's a fixed amount of spending, so administration is constantly reassessing to prioritize spending.
