The Ministry of Education considers two schools in Prairie South School Division to be operating at overcapacity while it considers 13 schools to be operating at under capacity, a report shows.
The school utilization rate is based on a formula that incorporates the current enrolment and the square footage of the building. This means the ministry considers Assiniboia Seventh Avenue School and King George School to be overcapacity, at 101 per cent and 103 per cent, respectively.
Meanwhile, it considers 13 schools to be operating at less than 50 per cent capacity, including Empire School (30 per cent) and Riverview Collegiate Institute (18 per cent). The 11 other schools are in rural areas and have lower enrolments.
Overall, the average space usage in PSSD schools is 58 per cent, according to a 2019-20 buildings accountability report that the board of education reviewed during its December meeting.
The report noted that the two oldest schools in the division are 111 years old, while the newest is four years old. The average age of schools is 64 years.
Service requests
The buildings and facilities department receives service requests that it separates into low, medium, high and urgent, the report showed. Low is considered cosmetic needs; medium requests are for standard maintenance issues; high requests affect daily routines; and urgent calls require immediate action.
“I want to commend all of my staff, with all of the COVID and extra items that were brought forth in front of us, the unknowns this year, that we’re still continuing to deliver a service that’s increasing (in) work orders,” said department manager Darren Baiton.
The service request volume by priority from 2015 to 2020 shows:
- Low category calls have increased from 140 in 2015-16 to 328 in 2019-20
- Medium category requests have increased from 2,716 in 2015-16 to 3,850 in 2019-20
- High category calls have increased from 2,285 in 2015-16 to 3,068 in 2019-20
- Urgent category requests have fluctuated, with 153 in 2015-16 to 95 in 2019-20
“On top of those work orders, we’ve got 14,000 other work orders (that are) greasing the squeaky wheel,” Baiton said.
Besides the volume of calls tracked, the department also tracks the number of days it takes to complete each request.
The data from 2015 to 2020 shows:
- Low priority requests have taken 22 to 41 days to complete
- Medium priority calls have taken 16 to 23 days to finish
- High priority calls have taken 11 to 19 days to complete
- Urgent priority calls have taken two to three days to finish
Health and safety
Twenty-four schools and buildings throughout Prairie South have a defibrillator on site. Some locations include the Ninth Avenue Northwest board office, A.E. Peacock Collegiate, Caronport Elementary School, Cornerstone Christian School, École Palliser Heights School, Empire School, King George School, Lindale School, Riverview Collegiate, Sunningdale School, and two at Westmount School.
Infrastructure projects
Prairie South School Division completed $4.08 million worth of infrastructure projects during the 2019-20 school year. Some of the locations where projects occurred include:
- Caronport Elementary School: $56,397
- Centennial Auditorium: $275,098
- Central Collegiate: $979,228, including $404,645 for a new boiler and HVAC system and $407,910 for new asphalt curbs
- Gutheridge Field: $262,182
- King George School: $51,071, including $20,239 for new playground tarmac recapping
- Palliser Heights: $90,451, including $38,628 for sewer lining replacement
- A.E. Peacock Collegiate: $272,173, including $148,645 for new LED lighting
- Prince Arthur School: $24,072
- Sunningdale School: $66,080
- William Grayson School: $291,439, including $260,097 for flood remediation
The next board of education meeting is Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021.
