The Toronto District School Board has a repair backlog of $3.5 billion, according to its annual snapshot of the condition of its public schools.Years of underfunding for school repairs saw the backlog balloon despite an increase in money from the province over the past five years, says the board, and that funding hasn’t kept pace with aging schools.Without more and predictable funding, the backlog could reach $5.2 billion by 2023, the board warns.“I think it should be concerning for most people,” said Robin Pilkey, Chair of the TDSB.“Schools are part of our infrastructure and in past years were not funded enough to keep them in good repair.”More than half of about 600 schools in the city are over 60 years old, added Pilkey and because the safety of staff and students is the highest priority, that’s where all the money goes.“All that we end up with each year is to solve emergencies,” she said. Krista Wylie, co-founder of the grassroots parents group Fix Our Schools, says their members “echo” what the board is saying. “It’s almost like they can’t keep up,” she said.“They’re in reactive mode a lot of the time, which then isn’t a very efficient or effective use of money.”Both of her children go to schools that are over a hundred years old — Runnymede Junior and Senior Public School and Humberside Collegiate Institute.Both are “lovely examples of beautiful architecture, but aren’t being kept up. “It’s so sad to see those buildings fall into a state of disrepair and sadder still as a parent to see that that disrepair has created conditions that are so ill-suited for learning and for working,” Wylie added. Her group has heard stories of everything from students wearing winter coats inside in January, to students writing exams with “water dripping from the ceiling.”“It sends a message to our young people that, ...
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