Since the closing of the Ontario Science Centre on June 21 of this year due to “serious structural issues” relating to Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC), the Ministry of Education has reported that 360 schools in the province also have RAAC within their structures, eight of those schools are under the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario (CDSBEO). 

RAAC panels are a lightweight, precast concrete used in construction between the 1950s and 1980s.  

Along with St. John Paul II Catholic School in Russell, the other school within the CDSBEO are Holy Cross Catholic School in Kemptville, Sacred Heart of Jesus in Lanark, St. Joseph Catholic School in Gananoque, St. Luke Catholic High School in Smiths Falls, St. Mary Catholic School in Carleton Place, St. Mary Catholic School in Chesterville, and St. Mary-St. Cecilia Catholic School in Morrisburg. 

All families at the eight schools have received a letter with this information. 

CDSBEO did not want to comment on the issue and referred to the post of the Parent’s Blog on their website.  

“We wanted to reassure families that the Board has developed an RAAC management strategy which was shared with the Ministry of Education last fall,” reads the CDSBEO blog post. “The RAAC management strategy includes ongoing preventative maintenance and regular inspections. The schools, of course, remain open.”