A new report looking at the state of Saskatchewan Rivers School Division facilities shows that the schools remain in good shape despite aging infrastructure.
The Saskatchewan Rivers School Division board received their annual Accountability Report on Facilities at their regular meeting on Monday. The report shows that Facilities or Plant Operations make up 14.34 per cent of the budget in the division. The $14.2 million budget includes Preventative Maintenance and Renewal (PMR) funding and capital expenditures.
Superintendent of Facilities Mike Hurd prepared the report. He said the buildings are in great condition.
“We have older facilities. Like the report says we range from 21 years to 116 years in age, but … with the funding we get in our Preventive Maintenance and Renewal budget as well as our operating budget, we’re able to maintain those facilities at an adequate level,” Hurd said.
“We make sure that they’re clean and safe and well maintained for the users, so we’ve been able to keep up. It’s been a bit more difficult this last while because inflation has really hit us hard on tenders and our internal maintenance operations.”
More than half of the school division’s buildings were constructed prior to 1970 while the rest were built between 1970 and 2012.
Hurd said the 116-year-old Prince Albert Collegiate Institute (PACI) is in great shape, adding that as buildings get older they require more attention.
Hurd said schools built in the 1960s are called “Baby Boomer Schools” and were constructed hastily all over the province. He said those schools are now in their second life cycle, and the chance of getting a third out of them is “very slim.”
Hurd explained that the schools built in the 1950s and 1960s are still very welcoming when you enter them and they still are still well maintained.
“They are clean and well maintained but eventually some of that infrastructure is going to fail and it’s going to have to be addressed. That’s no secret to the province, either,” he explained.
The division has replaced items like windows, rooves, and mechanical systems, but Hurd said sewer systems could become a problem at these schools because the piping is in the concrete slabs.
The major project completed during this reporting period was the remodelling of Max Clunie Field and the Harry Jerome Track at Prime Minister’s Park, which was done as a partnership with the City of Prince Albert.
“That was our largest one, $3.7 million for Max Cunie Field and the Harry Jerome Track. It was a great project. It started not last fall, but the fall before and then last spring they got on that early. As it turned out, we had some poor weather in June that put us back a week or two, but we managed to get it open,” he said.
Late last football season the Carlton Crusaders Football team was able to use the field and the division and city held a grand opening.
“It was great to see everybody out there and that track and that field are going to be just another addition to Prime Minister’s Park and all the great facilities that they have up there,” Hurd said.
Hurd credited his staff for keeping the schools in good shape. He said having the same staff year after year has helped.
“Overall, I think we’re doing the best we can and I think our facilities are in in good shape. We’ve got great people working in them. Both our caretaking and maintenance staff do a great job and that makes a big difference as well,” Hurd said.
The division is also entering another cycle of replacing roofs across the 38 buildings in the division, which is 33 schools and five service buildings. That project began last year with the roofs on the Carlton gyms.
“That takes anywhere between 15 to 20 years depending on how budgets are and how you know, how many roofing contractors are available to do that kind of thing. We have 33 schools and then we have five other service buildings, so 38 buildings at about a million and a half square feet, so takes a while to get through them.”
Service buildings include the bus maintenance building, Education Centre, Support Services Centre.
“We have got a shop in Shellbrook and we have a shop storage facility down by Wesmor School as well.”
The Ministry of Education provides funding through the PMR program each year. The board approves a new PMR three-year plan each year in June.
“We are expecting an increase in our PMR this year. We’ve been told it will be a 30 per cent increase, so that’s going to be a welcome addition to our budget,” Hurd said.
The facilities budget is broken down into 45 per cent building operating expenses, 18 per cent amortization, 35 per cent salaries and two per cent other. Facilities currently employs 65 full time equivalent caretaking staff, 14 maintenance staff and three supervisors and support staff. Caretakers are assigned based on size of facilities. For example, Carlton has three full time staff assigned due to the size of the building.
According to Hurd, they are averaging about 230 service requests a month. These are reviewed quarterly to make sure targets are met. Service requests are submitted electronically through Asset Planner software by administration and caretakers.
PMR projects are based on square footage of facilities. The division received $2,620,000 in 2023-2024.
Hurd is hoping for a new build with the division’s top priority being an amalgamation of Shellbrook schools, which entered the Top 10 for major construction priorities in the province on Budget Day.
“We are just managing the status quo,” he said. “Obviously, we’re excited to see that Sandin is on the list now…. It’s going to be a big improvement to our portfolio for sure. We are looking forward to that in the next couple of years.”
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
