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McKinney elementary is one of 17 Richmond schools slated for possible ventilation upgrades.

Photo by Hannah Scott

Ventilation upgrades considered for older schools

By Hannah Scott, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

Published 2:34 PST, Thu February 24, 2022

Last Updated: 2:48 PST, Thu February 24, 2022

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Richmond school board trustees considered upgrades to the ventilation systems in some older schools at this week’s board meeting.

While schools built after 1990 must have mechanical ventilation to move and exchange air with fresh air, many older public schools lack this ventilation. The only option for ventilation is to open windows built above radiators to ensure that in-coming air is a comfortable temperature. The provincial Ministry of Education funded the purchase of air purifiers, but these are only intended to be a temporary solution.

In a report to the board, the district’s executive director of facilities services Frank Geyer listed 17 schools for potential upgrades. Six of them are already scheduled for upgrades as part of existing projects: Bridge, Ferris, McKinney, Mitchell, Tomsett, and Whiteside elementary schools.

The facilities services department estimates that it would cost a maximum of $12 million to retrofit the remaining 11 schools not currently scheduled to receive mechanical ventilation as part of their seismic upgrades. Those schools are Blundell, Cook, Dixon, Garden City, Gilmore, Grauer, Kidd, Lee, McKay, Steves, and Woodward elementary schools.

Due to the uncertainty of provincial capital funding, facilities services is recommending this money come from the local capital reserve.

“From a facilities standpoint, we don’t feel it’s a huge risk for the school district to pay for this,” said Geyer. “The goal is to minimize that cost, and what we’re intending to do is to keep lobbying government and look for grants that we could get, to see how much of this money we can defray.”

The work would take just under a year and a half to complete, and would require two complete summers. The target completion date is August 2023.

“We’ve heard from people that ventilation is critical right now—it’s not just a safety matter, but also good ventilation makes (schools) a better environment for learning and teaching,” said Geyer.

In his report, Geyer said although the pandemic has highlighted the need for a timely solution, appropriate ventilation in schools is an ongoing need that will continue to be important in the future.

At this week’s meeting, some trustees expressed concerns about spending money that was initially earmarked for the purchase of land to build a school in the City Centre neighbourhood. But the uncertainty of that timeline, as well as the increasing value of land, pose challenges. Geyer pointed out that the ministry supports projects based on need, not on a district’s ability to provide funding contributions.

There was also some discussion about the simultaneous importance of seismic upgrade projects and the district’s seismic project office.

“(We’re) doing the right thing for ventilation now, and doing our best in the future to make the seismic project happen—no matter whether we have $2 to contribute to that project when the time comes, or $2 million,” said trustee Richard Lee.

Trustees will discuss and vote on the proposal at the March 30 board meeting.