Not to sound ungrateful, but what took the province so long to commit funds for the repair of Bayside Middle School? The school鈥檚 saga is a concrete illustration of what happens if you ignore an old proverb: A stitch in time saves nine.
Education Minister Mike Bernier announced Monday that the province would provide $6.1 million for a new roof for the Brentwood Bay school, where the roof has leaked since the school opened in 1992. The Saanich School District is contributing $1 million to the $7.1-million project, which will include new skylights and windows, new insulation and roof drains, as well as the removal and replacement of mechanical and electrical systems affected by the work.
In February, the school district estimated the repairs would cost $2.6 million, but a closer look revealed more extensive structural damage than originally thought.
鈥淭he scope and cost of this project is larger than we first thought, because damage was greater than anyone expected,鈥� said Bernier.
That wouldn鈥檛 be hard to explain 鈥� a leaking roof leads to deterioration of other parts of the structure and presents a wide array of hazards.
For the first 10 years, the district worked with the contractor trying to remediate the problems, but when the warranty expired, it fell to the district to carry out the repairs. It expended $380,000 over the years trying to get it right.
Meanwhile, students playing games in the gym had to dodge buckets left to catch drips from the leaking roof.
Bernier said a tour of the school a few months ago made it obvious the province needed to step up.
鈥淚 think it was pretty obvious when I was watching basketball being played in the gym, they didn鈥檛 know if they were shooting [the ball] up in the hoops or into the garbage pails on the ground catching the rain,鈥� he said.
In one room, electricity had to be turned off when it rained because water ran down into the walls. The district has had to deal with mould in at least one part of the school.
It鈥檚 a problem that has spanned a generation 鈥� simple math indicates that some of the students who attended the school when it was new and endured years of a leaking roof could have children of their own attending classes there now.
Simple math also indicates that replacing the roof earlier would have cost vastly less than the repairs are now estimated to cost. A problem unresolved usually gets worse, and the more deterioration that is allowed, the more the repairs will cost.
Dwelling on how much less repairs would have cost if done sooner won鈥檛 make any difference at Bayside Middle School, but have we learned anything from this fiasco? Can we be assured that other schools are not facing the same issues?
Keeping schools and other infrastructure in sound condition costs money, but failing to do so will ultimately cost more.
