About 40% of schools in Waterloo region need repairs, Ontario's financial watchdog says

A new report from the province's financial watchdog says schools in Waterloo region are in disrepair, but one local school board says the data isn't giving the whole picture.

The report was released by the province's financial accountability officer Jeffrey Novak earlier this month.

In an interview with CBC Kitchener-Waterloo, Novak said about 40 per cent of the schools in Waterloo region are not in a good state of repair. Most of those are under the purview of the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB).

The report says 55 out of 123 schools under the public school board are currently not in a good state of repair.

"It definitely gets to a point where the age of the building and the amount of repairs required ... would be more cost effective to replace the school," Novak said of schools across the province being in need of renovations.

The Waterloo Region District School Board says Novak's report "highlights the scale of the work that lies ahead of us" but doesn't provide the full picture of what the board is facing.

"It's important to note that the data presented as part of the FAO report is from the school facility condition assessment program, which was paused during the pandemic. As a result, the data does not reflect the current state of WRDSB schools," the board said in a statement emailed to CBC News.

The board noted it's committed to keeping school buildings and classrooms safe and it has received grants from the Ministry of Education help cover costs.

"The pupil accommodation grant–school renewal allocation is used to replace critical infrastructure at schools that has reached the end of its life, such as windows, roofing, flooring, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems," the board said.

"This funding is also used to improve the accessibility of existing spaces, to ensure that all students are able to access all areas of their school."

The board says it expects to receive over $10.4 million in funding from the school renewal allocation program for the 2024-25 school year. It also anticipates $33 million through the education minister's school condition improvement grant, which helps school boards finish back-logged projects.

High capacity at local schools, report finds

Novak's report also noted local schools are dealing with a high number of students in classrooms.

The report says WRDSB classrooms are about 97 per cent full. Classes at the Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) are 117 per cent full.

Meanwhile, classroom utilization rate is 94 per cent for classes within the Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB) and 87.2 per cent for the Wellington Catholic District School Board.

With the exception of the Wellington Catholic board, all of those local percentages are higher than the provincial average school utilization rate of 87.6 per cent.

"Right now we think there's about 150,000 students in schools [across Ontario] where there's not enough space for them," Novak said, adding sometimes portable classrooms are used as a temporary solution.

The report lists how many students in each school board are learning in temporary buildings:

• Waterloo Region District School Board: 5,109.
• Waterloo Catholic: 4,782.
• Upper Grand: 2,283.
• Wellington Catholic: 464.

The Wellington Catholic District School Board is the only school in the area with numbers at or below the provincial average — but it's also the board with the least number of schools.

The number of schools in each board are:

• Waterloo Region District School Board: 123.
• Waterloo Catholic: 48.
• Upper Grand: 78.
• Wellington Catholic: 22.

"If it's a permanent capacity pressure, then the recommended option for the government is to build a new school," Novak said.

He's estimating it will cost $9.8 billion to address school capacity pressures across the province. That is equivalent to 172 student spaces at about 227 schools across Ontario.

The report says Waterloo Region District School Board specifically will need 7,804 new student spaces by 2034 at a cost of $445 million.

The Upper Grand District School Board says it maintains a high standard of care for its school buildings and that was recognized in the report, as the board was listed in the top 10 boards on the building condition index.

"This achievement highlights the dedication of our facilities staff, and administration to provide safe, clean, and well-maintained facilities that foster a positive learning environment for all students and staff," the board said in an emailed statement.

CBC News reached out to the Waterloo Catholic District School Board and the Wellington Catholic District School Board for comment on the financial accountability officer's report. They did not respond to the request for comment.