Why do we need a new GYM?


Physical Education and the Gym

·      There are significant storage issues for the PE equipment
o   There is not enough storage space in the existing Gym. The equipment stored on the room of the PE office can only be accessed by climbing a ladder and lowering and raising heavy equipment with a rope.
o   At different times during the year my office is packed to the door at night with equipment we are using.

o   Using the Wii and Dance Dance Revolutiopn televisions during the day requires these to be stored for the length of the unit (sometimes several weeks) in the chair storage room blocking access to the electrical room. (illegal)

o   The stage is used for storage of extra furniture in the building. This can lead to unsafe and at times unusable PE teaching spaces.




·      The basketball court is very close to the walls of the gym. This leads to many collisions and unsafe situations during PE on a daily basis.





·      The gym is used in the middle of the day as the cafeteria. Due to scheduling, breakfast and the time required to set up lunch and clean the gym following lunch PE is unable to set up equipment before the students arrive for a lesson. The classes arriving after lunch for PE often wait 3-6 minutes for the Custodian to finish cleaning the floor at the start of their PE lesson. This also leaves the floor wet and slippery for the beginning of their lesson.
·      PE cannot be scheduled between 1130AM and 130PM. This leaves a large portion of the day the gym is unusable during lunch. This also impacts the scheduling of PE during the day with lessons scheduled back to back with no setup time between lessons







·      The electrical access panels at the end of the stage are covered with furniture (illegal)
·       PE equipment is buried by furniture on the end of the stage


·      The gym roof leaks. At certain times of the year there are puddles of water on the gym floor during the day.

·      The only access to the trash and recycling is through the gym – students who help with recycling are passing through PE classes

·      Anyone wanting to visit the kitchen during the day must move through the gym. This can often lead to the whole PE class freezing 5 times a lesson to allow adults and other students’ safe access to the kitchen.

·      There are several areas where asbestos tiles are cracked  and broken  that students can  touch these tiles (the floor and edge of the stage)

·      When the gym is used for special assemblies or performances, some classes lose their PE lesson or we have to change the lesson based on weather conditions. Recently the gym was used for a concert performance and due to ice we were unable to go outside for PE classes. There are no other spaces available for PE if the weather is bad.
·      During basketball games the stage is the only viewing area for parents – this can be overcrowded.
·      During basketball games the sidelines are so close to the court that students sitting on the bench have their feet on the court. I have heard sometimes players trip over their bench on the court.

·      A recent basketball game had to be stopped to allow a cart access to the kitchen

·      The scoreboard is unusable during PE lessons due to the control board that must sit on the kitchen bench

·      There is no sound system in the gym.

·      Students constantly jump on and off the stage







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