Catholic board aims at schools needing repair

WATERLOO REGION — Catholic school trustees want $6 million from the province to replace a school in need of renovation, after closing the region’s most decayed school.

Trustees closed St. Agatha Catholic Elementary School in June amid controversy. Some of its 82 former students shifted to St. Clement Catholic Elementary School in Wellesley Township.

St. Clement is now rated in the second-worst condition among local schools, according to provincial maintenance records for 151 schools at two local school boards.

“Replacing it is very close to the cost of fully renovating it,” said Wendy Price, chair of the Waterloo Catholic District School Board.

Trustees argue St. Clement needs to be replaced because it’s rural and because the board has stabilized its enrolment by relocating St. Agatha students. “Hopefully (the province) will recognize that and grant us the money we’ve requested,” Price said. She expects to hear next year.

Although safe, St. Clement has empty space, doesn’t meet programming standards, and isn’t accessible enough without an elevator, the board says. It was built in 1958 and expanded in 1970. It had 186 students last year. Renovating the school would cost more than $4 million according to a recent assessment.

This fall trustees added a St. Clement replacement to a wish list of projects submitted to the Ministry of Education. The board ranked its replacement a second priority behind a new high school trustees want to build in southeast Kitchener.

The proposal calls for a new school at $6.2 million in the village of St. Clements, located where the school playground is currently. If approved it would open in 2019 for up to 245 students, fewer than the current school at up to 265 students. It would include a child care centre for 88 children costing another $2.5 million. An unidentified community partner might also use space.

Funding is not guaranteed as the province typically approves only a portion of

building requests. The Ministry of Education has to date resisted calls to fund a new Catholic high school, deemed a higher priority.

Closing one deteriorating school while seeking money to replace another highlights the relatively poor condition of local Catholic schools. Compared to the Waterloo Region District School Board, the local Catholic board does a weak job maintaining its schools, provincial records show.

Analyzing the latest provincial records, the board’s greatest struggle seems to be keeping its middle-aged schools in good condition. The board does a middling job maintaining its newest schools.

Here’s what provincial records reveal, citing independent assessments conducted for the province.

17 Catholic schools were assessed in 2012. They averaged 39 years old. Outstanding renovations were pegged at 36 per cent of costs to replace the schools. This benchmark ranks among the bottom third of Ontario boards based on 893 schools assessed in 2012.

18 other Catholic schools were assessed in 2014. They averaged 33 years old with outstanding renovations pegged at 32 per cent of replacement costs. This benchmark is among the worst of Ontario boards based on 835 schools assessed in 2014.

13 other Catholic schools were assessed in 2015. They averaged 16 years old with outstanding renovations pegged at seven per cent of replacement costs. This benchmark is in the middle of Ontario boards based on 776 schools assessed in 2015.

In all assessment cycles the Waterloo public board maintained its schools better than Ontario and better than the Waterloo Catholic board.

The Catholic board argues that maintenance data released by the province is outdated and “cannot be used by the public to assess stewardship of capital resources.”

It says the public will see improvements as the board spends $56 million to renew its schools between 2016 and 2020.

“I am keenly aware of the processes in place for planning and carrying out renewal work in our schools, and have confidence that our staff are doing an excellent job of addressing facility condition as best they can given our resources,” board treasurer Shesh Maharaj said in a statement. “The impact of the investments we have made and will make should be positive.”

The board has improved several schools deemed in poor shape in provincial records.

It has secured funding to replace St. Boniface in Maryhill with a new school expected to open in Breslau in 2019.

It demolished empty space in St. Teresa in Kitchener and completed repairs costing $1.2 million at St. Paul in Kitchener.

It’s considering replacing St. Gregory in Cambridge, now deemed the local school in the worst shape, or renovating it for $1.2 million. It plans repairs valued at $632,000 at Saint Mark in Kitchener.