The Star – Catherine Little
“Do your children routinely run to the bathroom as soon as they get home from school because, unless it is an absolute emergency, they would rather “hold it” all day than venture into the school washroom? Mine has and I don’t blame him. There are a lot of school bathrooms that could use a little work. Recently, the Ontario Ministry of Education revealed that more than $15 billion would be needed to repair schools. Of the 72 school boards, Toronto District schools had the worst average scores. Earlier, TDSB had released detailed information about the physical condition of its 588 schools. The repair backlog was estimated at a staggering $3.4 billion dollars. Using an industry standard called The Facility Condition Index, over one-third of schools were found to be in “critical” condition. TDSB chair, Robyn Pilkey “stressed the numbers don’t have anything to do with safety.” But I think they do have an impact on learning.”(more)