An elementary school in Hamilton is blaming the fluctuating weather for water damage to the structure’s roof, saying that the 30-year-old roof isn’t slated to be replaced until the summer.

Photos of the school, which were provided by parents to CTV News Toronto, show the hallways at Balaclava Elementary School in Carlisle lined with buckets and garbage cans meant to collect water dripping from the roof. Metal drip pans that span several meters long are seen along the ceiling. Hoses appear to connect the drip pans to the buckets on the floor.

Parents tell CTV News Toronto that the school has been in this condition for a few months.

“It’s outrageous to see that a building full of kids has been allowed to fall into this level of disrepair,” said Geri Hall.

More photos show what appears to be water-logged tiles on the ceiling of the hallways. Some tiles in the school’s classrooms have been completely removed, exposing the electrical wiring.

Hall is one of many parents sharing photographs of the school’s condition. She says that the bathrooms “are a mess” and is worried about what will happen when the weather changes once again.

“When I send my kids off, every morning since last Monday, I’ve been thinking, ‘wow, am I being a good mom? Should I figure out how to be keeping them at home?’ she said. “I mean, the season, thank goodness, is about to heat up, but what happens when all the water meets heat in a building full of babies?”

The school says that the region’s freeze-thaw cycle has had an impact on their aging roof. The school was built in 1989 and the roof has not been replaced since.

“We have done some patching,” said Hamilton Wentworth District School Board Trustee Penny Deathe. “Some cement was poured on to some of the worst leaks and we are monitoring it daily, but as you can imagine, the tar roof, the smell to replace the roof when students are here just wouldn’t work.”

The roof was previously slated to be replaced this summer.

Deathe said that parents don’t need to be worried when they drop their kids off each morning.

“We would not have an unsafe school. We’ve had experts in monitoring it daily,” she said. “The school is safe.”

A meeting will be held in one week so that parents can find out more about what the school is doing to handle the situation, Deathe said.

With files from CTV News Toronto's Nick Dixon