Nearly half of Ottawa's schools either overcrowded or 'underutilized': report

About half of Ottawa's schools are either overcrowded or under-capacity, according to the latest report from Ontario's budget watchdog.

On Tuesday, the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario (FAO) released its report on the province's school boards. It investigated school capacity and school condition, or how many students are attending each school and whether the buildings are in a state of good repair.

The report showed that 35.4 per cent of schools in the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) — the largest school board in Ottawa — were operating at more than 100 per cent capacity. That makes it the fifth-ranked school board in terms of overcapacity, out of the ten largest boards in the province.

But the report also showed that 12.9 per cent of OCDSB schools are "underutilized," or operating at less than 60 per cent capacity. That gives OCDSB the fourth-most underutilized schools, out of the ten largest boards.

Perfectly balancing public need for schools with a fluctuating population presents a unique challenge for urban planners and school boards across the country, experts told CBC.

The OCDSB did not respond to CBC's request for an interview.

Ontario's Ministry of Education said in a statement it has a $16-billion plan to build and improve schools over 10 years, including schools under construction with space for a total of 81,000 students, but needs school boards to do their end of the work.

How did we get here?

Two factors in particular can can lead to stuffed or empty schools, according to Gus Riveros, a Western University professor who researches the effects of urban development on schools.

Population change is the first factor, he explained.

Andria Leigh, chair-elect of the Ontario Professional Planners Institute, identified the same complication.

Leigh, who is also director of planning and growth for the town of Innisfil, Ont., said municipal planners can't determine when a certain development is finished, which can affect enrolment.

The second factor is that municipalities, school boards, and the Ontario Ministry of Education have "a coordination problem," Riveros said.

Each organization is only reacting to what the other is doing, he said, not planning proactively together for the best outcome. Such a system — combined with what he considers the underfunding of education in Ontario — has created a "vicious" cycle, he said.

But Leigh said in Innisfil, and most other towns, school boards are involved in what's called "long range planning" for a community.

"School boards are a key stakeholder in any of our development review process," she said. "That coordination is a requirement under the Planning Act."

What's next?

School boards used to deal with underutilized schools by closing them. But in 2017, a rash of school closures across the province prompted the Ontario Liberal Party to issue a moratorium on the closure of public schools.

School boards have recently called on the moratorium to end, arguing it isn't fiscally sound.

And at overcrowded schools, portable classrooms have been able to help them cope with the excess. In Ontario, portables were in such high demand in 2018 that students were studying in hallways while they waited for them to arrive.

Riveros said both of these measures should be used sparingly and with forethought. He has researched the use of portables at schools and found they're often used inappropriately as a long-term solution.

He added closing schools may seem like it saves money, but it can have rippling consequences in the community.

"A closure of a school sort of signals the decline of a community, and that's problematic," he said.

Leigh argued that municipalities could look for "creative solutions to the model of school," including non-traditional urban schools or more robust shared communal spaces.

She pointed out that demographics naturally shift over time, so part of a school board's responsibility is to adapt to fill a school that may see temporary low enrolment.

"At one point in time a number of new families have potentially moved into one community [and caused] that school to be overcrowded," she said.

"Five years from now, that same school could be under-capacity because suddenly those younger families have aged or moved out."

Riveros suggested there could be incentives for developers to build near schools with low enrolment, or community programs that entice young families to the area. But, above all, education in Ontario needs funding, he said.

The FAO report indicated that Ontario has not budgeted enough to maintain its schools and build more of them, projecting a $12.7 billion shortfall over the next 10 years.

Read the FAO's full report: