Whereas the Province of BC completed a Preliminary Strategic Climate Risk Assessment for BC in 2019 that found that extreme weather events will continue to worsen across the province in coming years including heat waves; And whereas some middle and high schools could be used as emergency, disaster or extreme weather shelters: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM advocate to the Ministry of Education to increase funding to school districts with facilities capable of being used as emergency, disaster or extreme weather shelters to implement and increase resiliency measures including but not limited to mechanical cooling and ventilation.
Ministry of Education and Child Care Government provides capital funding to school districts so that climate mitigation and resiliency measures can be incorporated into new and existing schools. School districts are the owners and operators of public schools in BC. All new schools are designed with greenhouse gas emission reduction measures that include passive effective building massing, high R-value insulation, etc. and active design elements efficient mechanical systems. Also, new schools incorporate adaptive features including seismic resiliency, wildfireflood mitigation measures and partial cooling heat pump systems, etc.. There is capital funding available to school districts through the Ministry of Education and Child Cares annual programs such as the Annual Facilities Grant AFG, School Enhancement Program and Carbon Neutral Capital Program which can be used for upgrades to existing schools. This funding can be used for many building system features including upgradesreplacements to HVAC systems so that cooling and better ventilation are provided. It should be noted that AFG was increased from 120.5 million annually to 147.1 million in FY 202324. The Ministry will continue to work with our school district partners to ensure that schools in BC are resilient given the changing environment. Local governments should also engage with their local school districts to identify potential opportunities that create benefits for the broader community.