Montreal students will frequent a building whose windows are falling into disrepair, to the point where they had to be caulked with plywood and tape before the start of the school year.
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“It’s hard and it’s not acceptable,” laments bluntly Patricia Clermont, spokesperson for the movement I protect my public school.
“That it has deteriorated to this point is obviously worrying. I wonder: how many schools are in a similar situation? she asks herself.
The building located on rue Ontario, in Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, is temporarily used as a daycare service for École Maisonneuve, which is undergoing major work.
Windows in October
The daycare also underwent work this summer, but the windows have not been changed, despite their deplorable condition.
Photo QMI Agency, Pascal Dugas Bourdon
“The contractor will return to install the new windows in October since they will only be delivered at that time due to a delay beyond our control,” said Alain Perron, spokesperson for the service center. School of Montreal (CSSDM).
An explanation that does not convince Ms. Clermont, who judges that the work could have been done a long time ago.
“I can understand the reasons given, but it is not acceptable. We have to think about relocating, ”slices the spokesperson for the citizen group.
While waiting for the installation of the new windows, “a temporary membrane ensures the seal”, it was specified.
Since the start of the 2021 school year, around forty students have been frequenting the place, previously loaned to a community organization.
The school body ensures that the appearance of the windows is not representative of the premises used by the daycare service.
dilapidated buildings
Without too much surprise, the building housing this daycare service obtained, last February, the E rating for its dilapidation, the worst possible. It is not the only one: more than half of the schools in Quebec are considered “dilapidated” (D and E ratings).
The Legault government had nevertheless made the renovation of schools one of its main battlegrounds.
“The most visible illustration of the liberal failure in education is our schools. Every morning, one in two parents brings their child to a dilapidated school, ”lamented in 2018 Jean-François Roberge, now Minister of Education.