Despite the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario’s (ETFO) attempt to push the provincial government to address extreme heat and humidity conditions in elementary schools in September, it doesn’t appear as though there will be any air conditioning upgrades to schools in Peel any time soon.
Last week, the Durham District School Board announced its $17.6 million plan to add full air conditioning to seven existing schools and partial air-condition to 22 more schools.
However, this year, the Dufferin Peel Catholic District School Board conducted a feasibility study looking into air conditioning upgrades.
All of its schools built since the year 2000 are fully air-conditioned, but 65 schools built before then have either partial air conditioning or none at all.
In September, Daniel Del Bianco, the board’s superintendent of planning and operations, said equipping those schools with full air conditioning would cost between $35 and $40 million dollars and there are also operational costs to consider.
The project in Durham would cost its board an extra $564,000 in operating costs.
The DPCDSB is also backlogged with $225 million in renewal needs for its 149 schools and it is funded $23 million annually to address renewals and operational maintenance.
The feasibility study was presented during an administration and finance committee meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 28.
According to that report, equipping the 65 schools with full air conditioning would take approximately 15-20 years to implement. On the other hand, bringing cooling stations into schools would cost an estimated five to seven million dollars and would take five to seven years to implement.
Spokesperson Bruce Campbell said there was a lot of discussion on the topic, but ultimately, the board will wait until they begin their budget talks early in the new year to determine the most feasible option moving forward.
Meanwhile, the Peel District School Board has 177 schools operating with partial air conditioning and seven that don’t have air conditioning at all.
Spokesperson Kayla Tishcoff said there are no plans to make additions to air conditioning in schools at this time as the board would have to figure out how much it would take to bring all of those schools up to par.
Last week, the Durham District School Board announced its $17.6 million plan to add full air conditioning to seven existing schools and partial air-condition to 22 more schools.
However, this year, the Dufferin Peel Catholic District School Board conducted a feasibility study looking into air conditioning upgrades.
All of its schools built since the year 2000 are fully air-conditioned, but 65 schools built before then have either partial air conditioning or none at all.
In September, Daniel Del Bianco, the board’s superintendent of planning and operations, said equipping those schools with full air conditioning would cost between $35 and $40 million dollars and there are also operational costs to consider.
The project in Durham would cost its board an extra $564,000 in operating costs.
The DPCDSB is also backlogged with $225 million in renewal needs for its 149 schools and it is funded $23 million annually to address renewals and operational maintenance.
The feasibility study was presented during an administration and finance committee meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 28.
According to that report, equipping the 65 schools with full air conditioning would take approximately 15-20 years to implement. On the other hand, bringing cooling stations into schools would cost an estimated five to seven million dollars and would take five to seven years to implement.
Spokesperson Bruce Campbell said there was a lot of discussion on the topic, but ultimately, the board will wait until they begin their budget talks early in the new year to determine the most feasible option moving forward.
Meanwhile, the Peel District School Board has 177 schools operating with partial air conditioning and seven that don’t have air conditioning at all.
Spokesperson Kayla Tishcoff said there are no plans to make additions to air conditioning in schools at this time as the board would have to figure out how much it would take to bring all of those schools up to par.
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