Part of the classroom ceiling of a Montreal elementary school literally fell while students were there in mid-October. The following week, a ventilation grille from this same Plateau Mont-Royal school came loose from the ceiling of another classroom.
The first event occurred during school hours. A plasterboard came undone and fell on the suspended ceiling. “But it was too heavy, so the suspended ceiling did not resist and fell,” explains Alain Perron, spokesperson for the Center de services scolaire de Montréal (CSSDM). Luckily, no student was affected.
Located in the Plateau Mont-Royal, Louis-Hippolyte-Lafontaine elementary school was built 103 years ago. Thus, what we find on the ceiling “is not gyproc [placoplâtre], it’s real plaster, ”says Perron.
According to the school service center, humid summers lead to “more advanced” degradation of the plaster. On the third and last floor of this school, near the roof, there is “a greater degradation”, says Alain Perron. “There may be more condensation taking place [comme] it opens directly onto the roof, ”he says.
All the ceilings of this school were inspected following this event, says the CSSDM.
Thus, a week later, on October 22, a ventilation grille which would have been incorrectly installed following this inspection detached from the ceiling in another room and fell on the teacher there. was working.
According to the most recent data from the Ministry of Education, the Louis-Hippolyte-Lafontaine school is rated “E”, which means that it is in “very poor condition”. Its asset maintenance deficit stands at $ 3.6 million.
Not a first
The CSSDM spokesperson recalls that more than 10 years ago, a similar situation occurred at Saint-Paul-de-la-Croix school, in the Ahuntsic district.
In August 2009, just before the start of the school year, the detachment of “large plasterboards” from the ceiling of this primary school had forced “major work as soon as possible,” said a press release from what was then the Montreal School Board. Students and staff had been relocated for a few months.
As is the case now, the high humidity was then blamed for the situation.
“Since then, every summer, we inspect the plasterwork on the ceilings of all our schools,” explains Alain Perron.
In the case of Louis-Hippolyte-Lafontaine elementary school, we had done it last August, says the CSSDM. In this context, it is considered “surprising” that the plaster thus came off two months later. “We are very, very much on the lookout for the maintenance of our schools,” assures the spokesperson for the school service center.
As of Monday, the ceiling of the third floor of this school will be completely redone, two rooms at a time. The work will not be done during the day and the students will be relocated to another class in this school. “There will be no more scraps of plaster, since there will be none at all,” says Perron.
” It’s not normal ”
Given the dilapidated state of Montreal’s schools, it is not “surprising” to see such situations occur, says Catherine Beauvais-St-Pierre, president of the Alliance des professors de Montréal.
“We always have the impression that we have to wait for something to happen so that, finally, work is done. The reality is that millions would have to be invested to update the building stock and for that, we need political will, ”adds the president.
According to the most recent government data, 56% of schools in the province are in bad or very bad condition. In addition, 36% of water points in schools contain too much lead, according to the recommendation of Health Canada.
We shouldn’t get used to such conditions, but “teachers get used to it,” says Catherine Beauvais-St-Pierre.
Is it normal, she asks, for teachers who set foot in a school for the first time to ask their colleagues if the water is safe to drink?
“We should be able to go and learn and work in an environment where we can take tap water and where we do not have to wear a helmet,” concludes Mme Beauvais-St-Pierre.
5 billion
School infrastructure asset maintenance deficit, excluding CEGEPs and universities
Source: Quebec Infrastructure Plan 2021-2031