Public school with heating issue needs work: parent

The head of the parent council at a west-end Ottawa elementary school says Thursday's closure due to a boilerleak is a wake-up call to the city to take care of its aging schools.

Broadview Avenue Public School cancelled buses and classes for its 800 students on Thursday while staff worked to restore heat to the building.

The school is set to reopen Friday, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board said Thursday afternoon.

Parent council chair Trevor Jones said he wasn't surprised at the news of the closure, and said the school is in a state of poor repair.

"It's an old building," said Trevor Jones, who has a son and daughter at the school.

"We've got an outstanding staff, they deliver great programs, but since amalgamation the board's been focused on building new schools outside the green belt and our school dates back to the 1930s," he said.

Jones said the newest part of the building dates back to the 1950s. He said the school has had problems with the heat in the past,and its music roomhas flooded numerous times after steam pipes burst.

"It's just not an acceptable public building," said Jones.

His son Simon, an eight-year-old in grade three, said the school's bathrooms are "really, really ugly."

"They've got spider webs and the toilets don't flush...the sinks are clogged up," said the younger Jones.

Ottawa Carleton District School Board chair Jennifer McKenzie said Broadview is not the only school in the city's core in need of repairs.

"Indeed, across the district we have a number of older schools some of them are 80, 90, 100 years old and they're in need of significant renovations," said McKenzie.

The board has $500 million in requests with the provincial government for renovations across the region.

But Jones says the province is spending its money for schools in newer neighbourhoods.

"Certainly when I look at what's being built in places like Stittsville it does make it difficult to stay in the neighbourhood," said Jones.

The Ottawa Carleton District School board will meet later this month to discuss capital priorities.