Portable Classrooms: From Temporary Solutions to Permanent Fixtures in Schools

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Sixteen
  In Roundtable Session: Time, Place, and Built Environments as Constraints (Table 3)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of portable classrooms use in Ontario’s largest urban centres (Pop. >100K). Using 10-year administrative data (2010-2020) from the Ontario Ministry of Education and records from twenty-six school boards, this research provides an overview of the extent by which portable classrooms are used in the province. The analysis revealed that portable classrooms are far from being used as temporary structures, instead, the data suggests that portable classrooms are used as long-term solutions to enrolment pressures in schools. The over reliance on portable classrooms reveals the insufficient institutional responses to enrolment pressures and the extent of the infrastructure backlog in the province.

Authors

• Gus Riveros, Western University
  Presenting Author

• Chenyang Zhou, University of Western Ontario
  Presenting Author