Western Canada high school assistant principal Doug Hemstreet holds up plastic protecting a wall control panel from leaking water. The school has a deferred maintenance bill of $9.3 million. But that’s just the beginning of the CBE’s repair problems — the maintenance backlog for the board’s 215 schools tallies $454 million. (JACK CUSANO, Sun)

Then principal Nestor Yaremko walks the halls of Marlborough elementary, an eerie silence fills the vacant corridors and classrooms that four months earlier were bustling with students and teachers.

Pictures, lovingly drawn by students, still hang on the walls of the empty school evacuated March 15 due to concerns the roof could cave in under the weight of damp snow.

The Calgary Board of Education (CBE) grew concerned after an engineering report suggested damage from last summer's rainstorms needed to be repaired and staying in the school could be dangerous.

And that's certainly not the only maintenance problem on the lesson plans of Calgary school boards -- the maintenance backlog for the CBE and Calgary Catholic School District totals $520 million.

Yaremko said he still vividly remembers the morning of the evacuation, waiting for students to arrive before making a mass exodus on foot to nearby Bob Edwards junior high school.

"All 430 kids were lined up in the field in a heavy fog -- you couldn't see two feet in front of you," Yaremko said.

"I told them that this was a very significant time in the history of the school's life. The way we approached it was the building was sick and they had to be away from it for awhile."

Since that tear-filled day, the school's students and some 40 staff have been split between Greenview and Mayland Heights, elementary schools about 8 km apart.

Repairs are expected to continue throughout the year and the school likely won't be re-opened until at least December.

Until then, Marlborough will sit empty, the laughter that once filled the halls of the 36-year-old building strangely absent.

"It is a strange feeling to go through it," Yaremko said. "It's not a school when it's empty."

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As schools across the city begin to show their age, springing leaks and deteriorating, critics have set their sights on the province to free up more funding to ensure there will be no repeats of the evacuation which vacated Marlborough elementary. So far this year, some 40 schools have reported leaks, including major ones at Ernest Manning and Western Canada.

Earlier this week, Brentwood elementary had to close an entire wing while students were taking provincial achievement tests because 10 to 12 waterlogged ceiling tiles came crashing to the floor during the night.

The CBE and the Calgary Catholic School District both continue to seek major capital funding for school modernizations, as well as new facilities, while battling the backlog.

With 215 schools to maintain, the CBE estimated its deferred maintenance tally has reached $454 million, which, if left unaddressed, could spiral into a crisis situation, said board chair Gordon Dirks.

"If long-term funding wasn't available, eventually we'd be in the circumstance where you would wonder if we could continue to operate these facilities," Dirks said. "The problem with leaving deferred maintenance and not addressing it is over time, your problems exacerbate.

"This is a very large problem and you can not sweep this under the rug."

In 1999, the CBE's deferred maintenance price tag was $322 million and funding floundered after the ministry of infrastructure took over the task of funding new schools, maintenance and modernizations, he said.

With that responsibility back in the hands of Education Minister Gene Zwozdesky, Dirks said he is hopeful there will be a renewed focus on long-term, sustainable funding that will ensure aging schools can keep their doors open.

"There is a growing awareness among the public that this is an issue that is crucial and needs to be addressed," Dirks said.

"There is an imperative that rests on the shoulders of government to ensure that these public facilities are built and maintained over the long haul."

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While most of its facilities aren't as old, the city's Catholic board is also feeling the weight of a maintenance backlog continuing to grow.

Out of the district's 97 schools, 26 are slated to undergo modernization, carrying with them a $90-million price tag.

Board chair Cathie Williams said the province needs to bring schools to the top of its priority list, ensuring stable funding for new schools and maintaining aging facilities.

"I would hope that whatever plan comes forward, it's long-term and not quarter by quarter," she said.

"This should be a budget line item, not just something we see when there's a surplus."

Zwozdesky is set to tour Marlborough elementary Wednesday and meet with officials from both of the city's school boards.

He said balancing funding needs in a community undergoing massive growth is difficult, as new schools are needed and old schools begin to see declining enrolment.

A draft plan is due to be presented to Zwozdesky's caucus colleagues at the end of the month, aimed at addressing some of the infrastructure issues facing school boards.

"There are some recommendations I'll make in the report on a variety of issues, including new school construction, modernization and modulars (portable classrooms)," he said.

"It will be up to cabinet and caucus to determine what we do with the plan."

Zwozdesky said Alberta funds $9,200 for every student, the most in Canada, and has responded to infrastructure concerns by implementing significant boosts across the board.

After taking over the school infrastructure portfolio in April, the infrastructure maintenance and renewal budget, used to cover deferred maintenance projects, has increased 68% to $81 million.

Operations and maintenance funding has risen 5% to $395 million annually while new school construction has seen a 32% boost to $258 million.

"We've done a lot of good," Zwozdesky said.

But Calgary Varsity Liberal MLA Harry Chase said the Tory government's haste to eliminate the budget deficit and debt in the 1990s has created a new deficit that will cost hundreds of millions.

Chase estimated crumbling schools across the province could cost at least $1.5 billion to repair and action needs to be taken now to avoid a tragedy.

"We got the debt paid off but the deficit hasn't been addressed," he said. "It was great to pay it off, but if a roof falls in and kills you, it doesn't do a lot of good."

School boards, Chase said, have had to make due with sporadic funding, which has resulted in improperly maintained schools

"It's all been ad hoc," he said.

"(School boards) don't know from six months to six months what their budget is going to look like."

He said the province should follow the Liberal plan of setting aside a quarter of any surplus to go directly to addressing the maintenance backlog facing school boards.

"If we get $8-billion surpluses like last year, it could be covered over a five-year period," Chase said.

"I can't think of a better investment than our schools."

Rena Grams, the president of the Brentwood elementary school council, said crashing ceiling tiles were not unexpected because the school has been decaying for years.

The mother of three, who has two children in the school and an adult daughter who once attended it, said books in the library, many coming from fundraising parents, have to be covered in plastic whenever it rains.

Grams said if the schools aren't properly funded, the problems will continue to get worse.

"The way I look at it is if we live in a house and don't keep up with repairs, it's always going to cost more money and be a tougher job," she said.

"Everybody is frustrated because it's not just Brentwood."

Grams said the province should receive failing grades for not staying on top of the infrastructure woes facing schools and should put repairs at the top of its agenda.

"I don't think they're putting the kids first," Grams said.

"It's either spend the money now or spend a whole lot later -- just fix it."