The 200 students of a primary school in Joliette had to leave their school urgently because plaster containing asbestos had come loose from the ceiling, we learned The Press. A scenario caused by the heat which is reminiscent of that which occurred in several schools in Montreal.
What there is to know
- In Joliette, students and staff of an elementary school pavilion had to leave their establishment quickly last week, when plaster came off the ceiling.
- Built more than 70 years ago, this school has a dilapidation rating of “D,” meaning it is in “poor condition.”
- In Montreal too, students have to be moved for the same reasons.
It was at the end of last week that staff at the Saint-Pierre pavilion at the Quatre-Temps school in Joliette sounded the alarm.
“Crackling noises were heard in classrooms and a tile fell from the ceiling. We noticed cracks in the plaster. There was a commotion on the material resources side,” relates the president of the Lanaudière Education Union (SEL-CSQ), Mathieu Lessard.
The Samares school service center (CSS) confirms that work “related to fragments of plaster coatings containing asbestos had to be carried out”. The structure is not in question, assures Maude Jutras, communications coordinator for this CSS.
“This was not planned work,” she said nonetheless.
At the time the building was constructed, asbestos was used in the plaster coating. It’s old school. That’s why people intervened quickly.
Maude Jutras, communications coordinator at the Samares school service center
Since Tuesday, the students have been moved while the work is done. Some students with an autism spectrum disorder were moved to the daycare premises of another school pavilion, others to the premises of the hotel school at Barthélemy-Joliette secondary school. . Students of 2e year are for their part in premises of the Joliette Art Museum.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
All students and staff will be able to return to school next Monday.
Everyone will be able to return to school next Monday.
The building where this school pavilion is located was built more than 70 years ago. Its dilapidation index is “D”, which means that it is in “poor condition”.
According to the most recent Quebec Infrastructure Plan, 62% of primary schools and 65% of secondary schools have a “condition index” of D or E, that is to say they are in poor or very poor condition. state.
Not an isolated case
In an interview, the communications coordinator of the CSS des Samares said that they were “lucky”. “No student was injured, not like in Montreal,” says Maude Jutras.
Last week, Radio-Canada reported that similar events had occurred in seven elementary schools in the city. A student was injured when a layer of plaster fell on his head.
At Saint-Ambroise school, in the Rosemont district, the Montreal school service center must move the approximately 200 students from the De Normanville pavilion.
“Last week, there was an episode of unrest in a class, then in the library,” wrote to The Press Alain Perron, spokesperson for the Montreal school service center.
“Following these two events, we opened all the interceilings during the weekend to assess the extent of the preventive work necessary to avoid possible falls. Since specialists have noted crumbling in several places in the school, we are intervening in several premises,” he explained by email.
The FCPQ shocked
At the Federation of Parents’ Committees of Quebec (FCPQ), Mélanie Laviolette says she is “shocked to see that we can reach this level of disrepair in our schools without anything being done.”
Yes, we are building new schools, she adds, but the children must be in a “safe, healthy, adequate” living environment. “Obviously that’s not the case,” says M.me The violet.
As we intervened when we discovered lead in the water, we must carry out an inventory of the schools, believes the president of the FCPQ. According to the Ministry of Education, there are currently 61% of buildings in the school network that are not in “satisfactory” condition.
When we do press briefings on gendered or non-gendered toilets… I think the network is doing a lot worse than where our children go to the bathroom. I understand we need to talk about it, but there are more important things than that.
Mélanie Laviolette, president of the Federation of Parents’ Committees of Quebec
Both the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, and the opposition parties in Quebec intervened this week following a controversial decision by a secondary school in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, which announced that toilets of his establishment will be mixed at the next school year.
Mr Drainville banned schools from converting entire toilet blocks into mixed toilets.