School earthquake-proofing too slow: VSB

In 2005, the B.C. government promised to have 750 schools rebuilt to earthquake standards by 2020.

So far, only 121 schools have been rebuilt or are in the process of being upgraded.

Vancouver School Board Chair, Patti Bacchus, said the pace needs to pick up.

"Particularly Vancouver, which has many schools around 100 years old. And there are several that have been promised seismic upgrades for several years. We were told they would be done by 2008 and we have yet to even get them in the queue, so [there's] a lot of work to do," she said. "Every day students are at risk in classrooms [from] buildings that we know to be seismically not as safe as they should be."  

Of the $1.5 billion committed, only $900 million has been spent, on just 121 schools.

Bacchus said the province, the city of Vancouver and the school district are pulling together to fast-track planning, approvals, permits and inspections.