Parents call upon Premier Wynne to immediately improve school conditions for Ontario's children

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Sept. 19, 2016) - Fix Our Schools represents thousands of Ontario parents in asking Premier Wynne's government to improve school conditions for all students in this province and immediately address the $15-billion of disrepair that has accumulated in our children's schools.

In June 2016, the Province responded to Fix Our Schools' call for an increase in annual funding for school repairs to an industry-accepted standard. However, this new level of $1.4- billion/year for school repairs does little to address the $15-billion repair backlog that has accumulated in Ontario's publicly funded schools over the past 20 years.

"Over the past two decades, Ontario has dug a $15-billion hole of disrepair in our publicly funded schools", says Krista Wylie, a parent and co-founder of the Fix Our Schools Campaign. "With the new commitment from the Province of $1.4-billion/year for school repairs, we've stopped the digging - but a large hole remains. This fall, our children returned to aging classrooms - some as hot as 40 degrees. As we head into cooler months, we know many children will be learning in freezing cold classrooms. So, we now call upon the provincial government to improve school conditions for all Ontario students and find funding solutions to immediately address the $15-billion hole of disrepair in our children's schools."

Fix Our Schools looks forward to working with all MPP's and school boards to ensure that:

• Funding solutions such as issuing provincial bonds are explored and implemented to immediately address the $15-billion repair backlog in schools.
• The provincial government works with school boards to develop measurable goals for what school conditions in Ontario ought to be; and plans/timelines for how those goals will be achieved. At a minimum, Fix Our Schools expects the provincial government to release disrepair data at regular intervals to ensure that the $15-billion repair backlog is decreasing; and not continuing to increase each year.
• School conditions are a part of every party's provincial campaign platform; and continue to be an important focus for our provincial government.

Fix Our Schools is a grassroots, non-partisan, parent-led campaign creating a large network of citizens across Ontario who expect that every publicly funded school in the province is a safe, well-maintained building that provides a good learning environment for students and a good working environment for teachers and staff.