General
• Preventive Maintenance is the key.
• The infrastructure is really crumbling at the older schools and unfortunately lots of money is needed to repair the damage.
• There is evidence of serious animal intrusion in our older schools. (Potomac birds in eves, current KGHS mice and rats.) Professional cleaning of the ventilation systems needs to be done on a rotating maintenance schedule.
• Expected to see mismanagement, abuse and general waste and disregard and found out both Ray and Don are devoted to their jobs and do what they can with the little that is provided them.
• More efficient process is needed for getting rid of excess materials. Example is the trash at Ralph Bunche that has to have county approval to throw away old papers in the classrooms, old out of date textbooks and rusty desks and chairs. When the materials that can be auctioned are sold by the county, does the money come back to the schools to buy newer items?
• The current KGMS and KGHS need a through investigation before a contract is given to renovate the facilities. Why have a company bid before you know what is needed. It needs to be done well and not just cheaply with just lipstick on a pig, renovations. Dressing up and making look good, but the cancer is still there. (Potomac of the 1990’s section add on.)
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Current King George High School and Future King Georg Middle School
• Tile Missing in hallways.
• All ceiling tiles need to be replaced.
• Remodel the rest of the bathrooms not done two years ago.
• Carpeting in some rooms needs to be replaced.
• Baseboards in the hallways need replacing. Also in the classrooms.
• All the duct work in the building needs a professional duct cleaning.
• Repair holes in walls all over the school. Mrs. Elia’s current room in the front of the school has several deep ones that are in the room divider. She has had to cover them up due to students putting garbage and food down in the holes. She also has had to set mouse traps because of this fact.
• Because of fire code violations, Rooms 61, 60 and 34 need to be torn down and rebuilt if still wanted as a classroom.
• Whole school needs a repaint.
• English lab teacher’s bathroom needs remodeling.
• Old 60’s tile in the hallways needs to be replaced.
• Cafeteria equipment original to the school and needs replacing.
• Need new cafeteria tables like the ones at the new KGHS. Current tables and unattached chairs hard to move around for cleaning and events. The tables are old and worn out.
• Replace the tile work in the cafeteria, walls and a extensive cleaning and striping of the floor tiles.
• Clean air vents and repaint the cafeteria. The exhaust and return fans also need a professional cleaning.
• Replace old and tired wood doors throughout the school. Especially in the cafeteria. They are damaged and a bit warped there. Some of the classroom doors may be able to be salvaged and just sanded and re-finished.
• The top oven in the kitchen is broken and does not keep temperature.
• The griddle with oven is broken and needs replacing. The cafeteria workers use the griddle part all the time to cook. The oven is broken and is too old to fix.
• The food warmer does not keep temperature and the health inspector has flagged it as not usable at all.
• Need new milk cooler for Serving Line A. The door is broken.
• Steam table does not warm up properly on the A Serving Line. On Serving Line B one holder does not warm up.
• In the Auditorium the seating needs replacing. Old wood and metal seats creaky and some broken. Tile needs to be striped and redone. The stage curtain needs replacing, original to the theater. Teaser curtains were already taken down due to dust, mold, rips and because they were too far gone to repair. The main curtain barely opens and closes. It needs to go and be replaced. The lights need rewiring due to fire hazard concerns with hit and miss workability. Wood stage floor needs to be restriped and fixed. Never done in 40 years of heavy use. Need new modern acoustical sound tiles installed.
• The Band Room floor needs to be redone. New modern acoustical sound tiles need to be installed. Repaint the room and adjoining closets, practice rooms and offices. Like Room 88. Floor around risers need replacing and carpet is the preferred choice to replace. This is a acoustical and practical solution. Redo the instrument storage. The cubicles are tired and the wood worn. For middle school aged children these cubicles need a redo. A third door needs to be added, or window, in the middle of the wall for safety and monitoring purposes.
• Room 92, the Choral Room, needs the floor totally redone. Get rid of falling down tacky wooden bookcases in the back of the room.
• Door frames throughout the school need repainting.
• The gym floor needs a total restriping, staining and resealing. In the athletic director’s office the light covers and ceiling tiles need replacing.
• The motors on two of the basketball nets in the gym need to be fixed. The remote does not work with them.
• The doors to be the gym need to be replaced. The old wood doors are warped and battered.
• A thorough cleaning of the gym and storage areas, especially the bleachers behind them, is absolutely needed.
• Holes in cement walls need to be properly fixed, not just metal plates put over them.
• Replace vent over Storage Door 75. The storage doors need to also be replaced. Wood around door look partly gone and you have to be careful closing it, or lose a finger.
• In the electrical/storage room it needs to have a retiled floor, as does the other storage room, repainted and the ceiling tiles replaced.
• Metal removable shelving, like on rollers, is needed. The one storage room has no shelving and the other has wood shelving that the fire marshal says needs to go when the school turns over to a middle school.
• Replace water fountain in the gym. It constantly clogs up and is unusable for the students.
• Replace the water fountain outside the gym near the ladies locker room, it does not always work and currently does not.
• In the weight room the light fixture covers and ceiling tiles need to be replaced. The padding on the floor needs to go and striping and fixing of the tile floor. Due to the heavy equipment currently housed in there, the floor may need to have the tiles replaced. The room was originally two health classrooms with a divider going down the middle. It could be again. The room needs repainting.
• Outside in the pavilion near the cafeteria, the cement roof needs to be repainted. The cement walkways and patio needs to be power washed and the gum removed and then resealed.
• Cement walkways near the cafeteria need to be replaced. A safety hazard for the elderly, disabled or the young. Especially the sidewalk curve by the loading dock. The sidewalks all around the school need to be repaired.
• In the library the circulation desk needs to be replaced due to its’ age and state of disrepair. One side is propped up. The library needs new furniture. It is the original 1968 furniture. Carpet laid around the bookcases 3-4 years ago was done improperly. The carpet is coming up around the bookcases. They carpet is fray and bubbling up all around the room. There are rips in the carpets between the library stacks.
• Cracks in the plaster by electrical outlets needs to be replaced and replaced with newer ones that do not rust as those now.
• Reconfigure main office and replace old carpeting.
• Replace the gutters near the cafeteria and the down spouts. Some are dented and all are rusty.
• Repair metal siding by Exits and Kitchen/Loading Dock.
• The outside lights all need replacing with more reliable and energy efficient lighting.
• Vent outside Exit 2A and the nurse’s office needs to be replaced. It is damaged.
• Trim back or cut down the tree hanging over the roof in the front of the building. It can and will cause gutter and roof problems in the very near future.
• Beautify the front area of the building, by the entrance and the flag poles. The cement slab needs to be replaced, it is cracked. The front by the announcement sign needs some dressing up. Safety rails need to be installed by the stairs to the main entrance. Trim back the front trees right next to the school.
• Old trailers in the front row need to go. If they are kept the covering over their foundations needs to be replaced. The trailers have been there for over 15 years give or take a year.
• Need bleachers for the track and an outside bathroom.
• Cut back around the perimeter fences by the baseball field, track and Vo-Tech building. The fence by the Vo-Tech building needs replacing. One section fallen down completely. The fence by the Visitor’s baseball dugout is pulled up from the bottom and could cause a safety concern. The perimeter fences all are rusty and need a repaint if not replaced.
• Paint baseball backstop, it is rusty and an eyesore, as are the dugouts. It is about creating an impression when visitor’s come to our athletic fields. It is not a nice one at this time.
• Need to cut back four to five feet of brush and trees near the batting cage and around the perimeter fencing. Trees overhang the batting and pitching cage and need to go.
• The discus fence needs to be replaced to bring it up to current standards.
• Repaint old rusty bleachers to look nice, especially the ones by the baseball field. They could be redone in school colors. Would look nice when completed.
• Replace goal posts on the football practice field. They are rusty and tilting.
• The sink hole forming around the drain by the long jump pits needs to be immediately fixed.
• Take down the dish not in use by the gym. Just an eyesore now.
• The gym needs a total repainting when the banners are taken done. They have been up there for years and the paint is a different color, due to aging. The teacher/coaches offices need to be repainted and the bathroom in their remodeled. Replace cork boards in the gym, old and need to go. Seal openings in the gym that are not supposed to be there, holes in walls, etc.
• Locker rooms need swing arms on doors fixed. Between the gym locker room and team locker room there needs to be a permanent lockable door. The bathrooms and whole locker room needs to be totally repaired and redone. The benches need to be striped and resealed. The old lighting fixtures need to be replaced, along with the floor tiles, lockers and baseboard stripping along the walls. Maybe add lockers in empty room with benches to create a second team, or gym locker room space. The locker room is too crowded currently. Repaint around coaches’ doors and metal window sills around them. Door vents need to be repaired and repainted.
• Cement work over Exit 13 and 14, over the doors, needs to be done.
• Vo-Tech Building. The white boards in V-17 need to be whiten or taken down. The tables need replacing. The floor redone and stripped, classrooms and hallway. The ceiling tiles and light fixtures need replacing and updating. In V-17 out of 12 light fixtures, 6 had bulbs out and it was dark in a windowless room. Repainting in the whole building. Need to modify V-5 Building Trades, V-2 Metal Shop and NJROTC room. If use for classrooms need to put in floors, clean vents, clean thoroughly and add dividers and a drop ceiling. They could be used easily for classroom purposes. Bathrooms need a total redo. They are old, worn out and in disrepair. If you turn the shops into classrooms the garage doors need to be replaced. The teacher’s room and special storage areas could come out and a bigger classroom created and all the trailers could go.
• V-2, because of its’ closeness, could be used to store track equipment and the need for a shed outside would be eliminated. Currently one needs to be provided when the school is closed for renovations. (Hurdles, high jump and pole vault mats, pole vault and high jump standards, pole vault poles, starting blocks, uniforms, weight equipment)
• In the NJROTC room the bookroom, uniform room and gun/shoe room need to be removed due to fire code standards. This also includes the shelving contained in these rooms. Fire Marshall has already flagged them. Wall to the outside, in the back training area, needs to be cement patched and repainted. This set of rooms was the AgriMechanical shop when the school was originally built. The wood wall creating the classroom needs to be removed due to fire code.
• V-11 Drafting could be portioned into two classrooms, ventilation may be a concern though. The floor needs work and it needs to be repainted. Between the light fixtures are what looks to be speakers and they need to be removed if not in use. They currently collect dust and mold.
• The parking lot needs to be restriped and renumbered. It also needs resurfacing due to cracks and resealed.
• Need to take down wood posts and metal posts surrounding the teacher’s parking lot. Look tacky, if want to bar people from parking on the grass, put up a nice fence or bushes that are aesthetically pleasing and not trashy to the eye.
• Repair science room desks in Room 16. The drawers on the font are hanging off. Old sink and pegboard fronts need to go. Reface and screw in cabinets. The desks in Room 18 are the original desk and in good shape, just need repainting, or stained again. The pegboards in front of cabinets in science and business rooms is missing, old, or broken and needs to go. In Room 19, which is the Computer Room, it leaks like a sieve when it rains in several parts of the room. The drain is located over the room on the roof and the drain clogs up constantly. This computer lab needs to be refigured because there is a lack of leg room and moving space due to where the computer internet drops were placed.
• Room 20, 21 and 23 were the old Home Economics rooms. They are currently being used for Room 20 Special Ed, 21 Kitchen and PAES for Special Ed, and Room 23 for Marketing. The kitchen needs to be ripped out or could be redone and made into a teacher’s lounge with stove, sink, and refrigerator. The room looks like it came out of an episode of The Brady Bunch or that 70’s Show. The stove vents need to be brought up to code. Ceiling tiles have to be replaced and the tiling striped and resealed in all three rooms. Rooms 20 and 23 have bathrooms that need to be redone and updated.
• Big leak in the corner hallway ceiling near the hall monitor station by the cafeteria doors. When it rains outside it does inside to.
• Wall separating Special Ed office and Library 3 needs to go due to fire code. It was originally part of the library.
Current King George Middle School
• Parking lot needs repair. Water stands when it rains hard. Drainage needs to be put in and repaved. Need more parking spaces.
• Lecture room chairs need replacing and carpet is torn and chairs broke.
• Band Room. Can hear heater running in the office. The storage room needs to be cleaned and retiled. Put new carpet in the room and new modern acoustical tiles. Some of the tiles are currently damaged on the back wall. Fix doors to the band room. The locking mechanism does not currently work properly.
• Gym. Lighting is horrible and needs help. Lighting goes out from time to time. There are no outside windows in the area. Wooden strip around the outside walls needs replacing. The gym divider curtain has a health issue and needs to be replaced. If it is brought down it is questionable if it will go back up in time. The motor is bad and it is musty, torn and moldy. The stage needs to be striped and stained and resealed. The stage curtain is original to the building. The curtains do not work properly. The curtain is dry rotten and is has a rip at the bottom. The projector screen on the stage needs to be fixed, it is ripped at the bottom.
• Some doors do not work properly in the storage rooms in the gym. The metal shelving needs to be replaced in those rooms if they need to be taken to the current KGHS because none are provided there when the wood ones get torn down. The locks on the doors need to be replaced, are not reliable.
• Lock to the girls’ locker room is broken. It only locks from the outside. Both locker rooms need to be redone and updated. Lockers are rusty, dented and the locks have to be replaced on a locker by locker basis (the tumblers). The baseboard and tiling needs to be replaced. The shower needs to be removed because it is not used and has not been used for many years. It could be used for more lockers.
• Repaint the metal outside by windows in teacher’s office needs to be done in the gym.
• The gym floor is starting to show age. Do not know what to do to fix or replace it.
• Library is in good shape, but needs ceiling tiles replaced. Leak by sky lights and seal might need to be repaired, or window replaced.
• Some room dividers need to be replaced. They are worn and bad and teacher’s cover with posters and student work.
• Retile cracked and damaged floor tiles and all rooms need carpeting. Refinish all wood doors on classrooms and repair.
• Cafeteria tables need to be replaced and are in various states of disrepair. New heating units and proofers for food on the serving lines need to be replaced. The oven is also old and needs replacing. The serving lines are tight and food has to be transported from the kitchen to both A and B sides. The B side has to be accessed from the Art Room. The cafeteria workers have to go through a class in session to bring the food to the other side for all lunches. Serving lines do not have much room and are crowded. No air in the kitchen, air conditioning. Take out the art room and relocate and reconfigure the whole kitchen, office and serving lines. This would make most sense and be cost effective.
• Repair refrigerator, or replace, on Serving Line B. This is a safety and health concern.
• Repaint metal siding around the school. Also repaint metal heat and air conditioning bar units located on the outside of the school.
• Take out lockers if they will not be used. Still in good shape and could be used elsewhere.
• Repair under window sills outside.
• Repair the sidewalks.
• Mold on outside on the brick on the roof by the gym. It needs to be removed and repainted.
• A concrete walkway needs to be put in by the trailers on the B side of the school. Dirt is constantly track into the school when students exit the school right to the dirt in that location.
• Trees in the front of the school need to be taken down or cut back.
• Get rid of trailers and replant grass in the location they sat in.
• Main office needs to be reconfigured to provide more walking room and counter space for the secretary and account. Hard to move around. Could be reconfigured possibly with new furniture. Needs to be recarpeted.
• Air flow needs to be improved in the school, especially the front office area.
• The kitchen needs to be updated in the main office for the teachers and redone.
Buildings
• Need new heating and air and roof at KGMS.
• The air quality costs $1400 each time depending on how many samples and the price may vary. Annual air quality tests at all of the schools should be included in next year’s budget.
Transportation
• In the recent past Ray Newton has had to forgo maintenance due to lack of funds by the end of the year when big ticket items are taken care of. An example is last year when the budget was frozen. Two buses had to be taken out of commission for major repairs that could not be performed due to lack of funds.
• Six to eight buses need to be replaced from a lump of buses bought in 1991. 21 Buses in total.
• 47 buses are on routes all day. 189 routes a day are carried out. This is not counting county to county mid-day routes or activity buses. 12 additional buses are available for field trips, spares, etc.
• 72 minutes is the longest a child has to sit on a bus.
• 5-8 minutes for the Potomac Elementary school is the shortest bus routes in the school system.
• Ride time could be reduced by adjusted bell schedules at the schools. This is especially at the elementary schools. This would entail a wider window for loading and unloading students.
• An example of an altered bell schedule would be a two-wave system of student unloading 8:15 for first group and 8:40-45 for the second group.
• The individual school decides how many activity buses they have. KGES has 3 buses running two days a week. Sealston Elementary has 4 buses running for four days a week. Potomac Elementary has two buses running two days a week. KGMS and KGHS are 4 buses per school running four days a week.
• Bus drivers’ turnover rate is not as bad as other divisions. In 2004 they lost nine drivers over the summer and it took until this year (2008) to recover the numbers.
• Handling of a bus is different in real world situations, like traffic and students, and some just are not cut out for the job once training is over. Last year Ray Newton started a mentor program and it has become successful in retaining drivers.
• The average high school bus has 35 students.
• A full size bus has 64 passengers and 44 is a comfortable load. 55 is the comfortable load for elementary students. Bus size is limited by the size of the bays in the 1950 garage.
• Bigger and updated modern facility for maintenance and bus garage.
• A place to store all buses in the summer.
• Equipment to service newer technology in the buses, instead of outsourcing it at an extra cost.
• With a modern facility the bus maintenance staff could do more repair and save money.
• One additional mechanic is needed at the bus garage. In 1976, 4 mechanics serviced approx 30 buses. Today 3 service 59 buses.
• Requested help in the office has been requested in the budget but remains unfunded. One driver comes in and works 10-6 to help and had to have other driver’s pick-up their route.
• The extra help does required paperwork, arranging field trips, sports trips and help with daily and weekly driver logs. Helps put together and gather information for state reports. If not it gets behind. Last year without the help they got far behind. This help also dispatches buses and field calls from parents and general secretarial duties.
• Currently King George is behind in state reporting that is mandated at point where can’t keep up. They are penalized in funding for this.
• Ray Newton no time to get out of the office and cannot due safety programs out of the office for the bus drivers and student body. Another program they cannot do is workplace safety. Ray has worked 14 hour days and six days a week before he got help in the office. He could use more to catch up on paperwork. Valerie the secretary worked long hours also.
• The top end of the bus driver pay scale is very competitive with surrounding counties. The starting salary is very competitive also.
• 10-18 year range the salary needs adjustment. Capped at 19 year salary and then get cost of living increase.
• Contracting subs are a big benefit to help keep and retain drivers. If there are no routes available they are put on stand-by. Their time is utilized and have the same requirements of bus maintenance, keep student counts and update binders of all bus routes. They also have assigned buses.
• Minimal fleet of spares if bus breaks down or has to be sent out of county for repairs that cannot be performed in-house.
• Every 30 working days buses have to be serviced, or after over 15,000 miles.
• Instrument panels are messed up on a few buses and had to be put off until later due to budget crunch last year, these were thought of as non-essential.
• Mechanics must work on buses outside or they will get backed up.
• Safety problems abound. Only one way out in case of emergency. The garage doors cannot be opened manually in the event of fire or power outage. A single door on one end of the building provides the only egress.
• The bus lift is not adequate for today’s buses. The buses are too long for the bays. Buses almost 10 feet longer than they were when the garage was built in the 1950’s. Buses occasionally fall off of the lift during servicing.
• Minimal storage in the building does not allow cost savings by purchasing large quantities of needed maintenance items.
• The roof is wood and a fire hazard.
• OHSA had concerns on inspection of the building recently.
• Insurance agent from Utica was in awe of the problems existing in the old building.
• Tires and other parts are stored at Ralph Bunche High School. Time is wasted driving for parts.
• Not enough adequate lighting in the building.
• The main gate to get into the bus garage property is not wide enough to pull the bus in if do not take it carefully.
• Pavement and bays are different heights and could cause injury.
• The heat inside the garage can be unbearable in the summer and extremely cold in the winter.
• No heat and no ventilation system. There is also no fire system. No smoke alarm and no fire detectors.
• At the bus garage only general maintenance can be done. Results in equipment being unavailable for extracurricular activities while offsite for repair.
• A higher end bay with electronic equipment to service the newer electronic bus engines is needed. A laptop for this use is required. This could prevent having to send out higher end maintenance and be a cost savings.
• 4,000 gallons of fuel is housed in two tanks near the bus garage building. They do not meet safety standards.
• Storage for some items need everyday moved from Ralph Bunche to an old food service truck on the property.
• The narrow road next to the bus garage causes problems with the two gates needed to bring the buses into the property.
• The buses are housed on the grounds on a gravel and grass lot.
• Buses have to be stored on Hunter Field during the summer for servicing.
School Board Office/Old KGHS and KGES
• Concrete work on exterior and sidewalks needs to be done.
• Perimeter fence of property needs to be replaced.
• Metal frames around the outside windows need to be repainted and the rust removed.
• The air conditioning is still good and needs a pain touch up.
• The Election Board and Parks and Recreation use the facilities, especially the old cafeteria, during the week for events. When it is cold outside Headstart uses the space and so does Special Ed classes.
• Replace ceiling tiles and original light fixtures in cafeteria.
• In the old section the electric heating needs to be replaced, not energy efficient.
• Bar heaters on the ceiling heat the hallways.
• Outside electric coil units on the windows heat the classrooms.
• The old auditorium needs carpet replaced on stairs and stage.
• In the classrooms behind the auditorium are used for storage, and the old library too.
• These rooms are in bad shape. Ceiling tiles missing and water damage on ceiling and walls. Plaster coming off and crumbling to the floor. Musty smell and can see mold damage. Computers and monitors are stored in these rooms.
• In the hallways you can see rebar through cracks in the plaster on the walls.
• Plaster chipped all through hallway.
• Plywood fixes on old hardwood floor where damaged and missing.
• Last used in 96-97 school year for elementary students, their hand prints are on the wall. Most graduated high school last year in 2008. Building is deteriorating rapidly in the old section due to lack of maintenance funds.
• County stores computer and shelving in Room 7.
• Room #10, the former Art Room is used as a maintenance shop. Not efficient for all items to be stored here. The rest is at Ralph Bunche. Only can store small items. Most custodial supplies, ceiling tiles, etc. cannot be stored here. Some maintenance repair equipment is housed here for repair work. Because of small working space, heavy work must be contracted out. Stuff for maintaining all the schools is housed in this room.
• The old field house has a roof that needs replacing. It is a matter of time until it fails. Parks and Recreation and The Patriots Gymnastics team pays to use the facility, however the $ does not go to the school to offset the cost of operating the facility..
• The locker rooms are in ruins. They need a total overhaul. Drains, wood ceiling, floors and lockers all need to be replaced. Cannot take a shower inside the rooms.
• There are no locker rooms available for King George or visiting football teams for use at Hunter Field. Concern that poor facilities will prevent home football games, as was done for other sports at KG.
• The roof is so old that the canvas type material is breaking down and constantly needs patching.
• Doors on the outside of this section, and the field house, are warped. The main entrance door was replaced due to fire code.
Ralph Bunche
• KG Sheriff’s Department uses it for training and storage of equipment and materials used in their line of work. Used by the school board to store records and maintenance supplies and bus garage materials.
• Ice melt is kept on palates in the old gym. Causes damage to the floor and surrounding materials.
• Record storage is in an old wood framed room created in a corner of the old gym. Rows of filing cabinets are lined up against one wall of it. Teacher’s Records from 90-91 and all of the 80’s are contained in the drawers and in cardboard boxes. Payroll records from 1990 and the 1980’s are also housed here. Mrs. Morris 4th grade Potomac records where observed in one of the cabinet drawers. Unknown if all records are stored here or elsewhere.
• The old gym floor is splintered and broken in one spot.
• Wood bars are on the door with chains used to keep people out.
• Lots of windows are broken, with the glass lying around. Debris litter the site inside and out.
• Classroom material is stacked in closets and musty rooms. Old books, papers and posters, etc. abound.
• The maintenance staff cannot get rid of any material unless approved by county staff. It has to be deemed usable, salvageable or not. The money used when the material is sold is given to the county and does not go back to the schools account.
• The basement is used mostly for storage and training by the police department. They do special response training in some of the classrooms.
• The rooms are musty, and some not air conditioned, all throughout the school.
• County records or payroll, etc are housed in one locked room in filing cabinets. School and other county plat maps and design diagrams from 1990 to 1999 are there to.
• In the old shop/cafeteria building the county stores equipment along with the school systems. Snow plows, mowers, baggers and ice melt are contained in the building. The school stores ceiling tiles for each of the schools and the mowers they cannot store on site at each of the schools due to fire code and gas.
Potomac Elementary School
• The circle in front of the side of the school facing Potomac Rd. is state maintained. It needs repair and repaving.
• Repairs to the school have been in the budget for a long time. It currently is in the Capital Budget. The repairs keep getting put off and cut when money is tight.
• The parking lot needs to be repaved.
• Air conditioner unit that is recessed in the roof in the 70’s section needs to be replaced.
• The playground has equipment in it that is broken and was bought for Headstart. The concrete is deep and can’t come up easily.
• The 90’s section is in relatively good shape. The York air conditioners, non-commercial, that provide heat and air are doing well, but need repainting and rust removal from these outside units.
• Facets around school needs repainting.
• Gym side of the building needs repaving. It is now partially gravel and grass. Constantly it gets potholes in the road that shoots of the main road that leads to NSWC-Dahlgren base.
• This side of the parking lot and the gym is used for elections each year, a polling place.
• There is a rusty old air conditioner unit that is still in use. It has no fencing around it and kids use it to boost themselves up to the roof. It is about 8 feet away from the top of the roof. Kids get up on the roof and do vandalism to the roof and school itself.
• Barred units in the windows need painting and rush removal.
• Parking lot in the old front of the school needs paving. Now gravel and grass and not lined.
• Old metal blinds in the classrooms need to be replaced. Slates are sharp and some are bent. Probably original to some parts of the building.
• Calking around windows inside and out need fixing. Probably new windows need to be put in the 50’s and 70’s section. Energy efficient double paned.
• Painting on the metal under the outside of the school needs to be done.
• New light covers by side doors outside need to be bought and installed. New energy efficient lights would probably be better.
• Need paved in the gravel drive near the dumpster facing 15th St.
• Bird nests where roof line meets the brick wall need to be removed and printed with screening.
• Unit life expectancy of the roof was 12 years. When it was done was 1991.
• Cafeteria tables are in bad shape.
• Carpet starting to show wear in the 1991 section. Tile easier to maintain than carpet and requested by maintenance and the principal.
• 70’s section was built as an open classroom and then converted into individual classrooms. As was the old library.
• Metal walls were installed to wall off the individual classrooms. These caused some of the vents to be partially, or almost fully covered by the wall. This causes ventilation problems. The outside windows do not open and teachers bring in fans to ventilate their rooms. This section is where the 3rd through 5th grade classrooms are contained.
• Sinks are too low and rusty in the 70’s section. Faucets are hard to turn on in the bathrooms and all rusty and positioned low to the ground. This was originally the K-1st grade section. It is a sanitary issue in the bathrooms that need a complete renovation.
• Heavy rain pools in the courtyard in this section and creates a very damp atmosphere in this section.
• Black base kickboard comes away from the wall and it repaired and then it comes off again.
• One light switch in the 70’s section controls all the classrooms.
• No electrical outlets in the metal walls. So the classrooms have limited electrical outlets.
• The Math Lab has an air conditioning unit overhead that is noisy and leaks.
• When the rain is hard it leaks into the math lab and special testing center.
• Water basically pools in the 70’s section.
• The old library is contained in a current 3rd grade classroom. In the middle of the room was an old sunken seating section for the library. Plywood was put over top and then carpeted. When walking in that area it creeks and creates a hollow sound.
• Tiles need to be replaced for they cannot be bought anymore. Also the carpet in the 70’s section needs to be replaced. It is old, worn and outdated.
• The 50’s section was the original section of the school and is one hallway in length.
• The teacher’s bathroom in this section is outdated. It is contained in the old office. The door to the bathroom hits the toilet. The sink is contained outside the room in the old office part, near the copier. It has feet pedals to operate. The door next to it, that leads to the hallway, cannot be opened properly since it hits the sink. It is the original design.
• The 50’s section houses 4-6th grade classrooms. All bookcases and counters need to be replaced in these rooms. They are original and in various states of disrepair. They could use more electrical outlets for new technology, like laptop computers. Teachers buy tile or laminate to place on top of counter to make them presentable. Some of the bookcases have shelving missing and chips out of the wood.
• The bathroom in this section is old and needs to go. There is no door on the entrance to the bathroom and the hallway leads right to the toilets. Someone could stand at the door and see children inside. Newer bathrooms are set up in a way that that does not occur. The urinals are only reached by standing on an old platform.
• The old intercom works, but is too low to hear properly. Principal has to go into the music room to make announcements and not everyone can hear then either. It is a safety hazards and the only real communication between the main office and rooms is by phone.
• In the 50’s section Mrs. Ericson’s 4th grade classroom was the old cafeteria and auditorium that contains a stage. There is another classroom right off of this room that has to be accessed from this room. It is currently being used for the After School program. Last year it had to be used as a 4th grade classroom. To access it you have to go through Mrs. Ericson’s room. This is the old cafeteria line room.
• The cafeteria room is currently being used as a special learning room. It is loud and open. The bulletin boards in the room are up near the ceiling. There are 15 foot high ceilings there. The pantry room here is used for storage, but needs updating to make an efficient storage room. The old bathroom in this room needs to go. It can become a needed storage space. It currently houses a little toilet that could only be used by a 3 year old. Too low to the ground.
• The 50’s section not up to ADA code, especially in the bathrooms and with water fountains. The handicapped stall has no bars in it.
• Teachers would rather have floor space in their classrooms than the bookcases.
• Vents inside the classrooms on bar units need to be cleaned.
• Heating units on the floor are not in use and need to go. They just take up space.
• The structure of the 50’s section is better than the 70’s. Inside needs gutting.
• One water fountain in the 50’s section needs to be turned on by a switch inside a classroom to work. Room 32 is used by Ms. Duff for 6th grade and Math. This is the room it is operated by.
• Blackboards are original in the 50’s section and are placed over linoleum topped, wood bookcases. They are hard to write on and add to the musty smell in the rooms in this section. The dust caused by these boards, along with the bad ventilation, and locked windows, cause problems for students and staff. These windows cannot be currently opened by staff.
• The breezeway windows to the outside are original and not energy efficient between the 50’s, 70’s and 90’s section. Some of the seals seem to be broken, about 10 of the 32 in one section alone. The seal is broken between the window panes. Condensation is between the double window panes.
• Heater in the hallway just inside the 50’s section heats the hallway and is old and in efficient. It is a Reznor original heater to the school.
• 3 random bathrooms exist in the 50’s section. They need to go. They have teeny tiny toilets in them.
• Teachers are spending their personal money to fix things in their rooms.
• 90’s section houses the band room. This room has water that pools in the room, especially the storage room. It seeps up from underneath the floor and comes from the outside. Water also leaks in from the roof, through the ceiling.
• In the Band room mice can be caught. Under the seats the riser is non-existent. There is a hole where the riser material should be. Food gets dropped in the hole and exists under the seats with no way to access to clean it out. Food has been there since 1991 and causes the rodent problem. A community group uses this room also.
• The netting is gone on the outside of the school. The birds get into the school through there and fly throughout the school. Their favorite place is the gym and its’ rafters. The rafters need to be painted and have not been since the building built.
• Weather stripping on the outside of the 90’s section needs replacing. It is fixed every year and it constantly falls down during the year.
• Water gathers in the courtyard of the intersection of the various sections and creates water seepage problems inside and outside the school.
• Courtyard door has a toggle lock that kids that get on the roof use to get access to the inside of the school.
• Condensation from the pipes in the 90’ section causes leaks and they are not wrapped.
• The cafeteria tables need to be replaced. They are showing age and chipped in places. Tops of the tables coming up and becoming unattached to the metal framework of the table.
• Burlap coming off of the sound boards/bulletin boards in the cafeteria. They are metal framed. Holes and chunks out of the table corners. Laminate pulling off the top.
• Have no ice machine and equipment in the kitchen is broken, or is in non-use.
• The dishwasher does not work. Other schools do and they use them. It is a sanitary issue.
• Two serving lines that are a tight squeeze for the students.
• Do not have enough tables for students in the cafeteria.
• Waste Management charges more per volume because they have to use Styrofoam totally because there is no dishwasher.
• No sink in the teacher’s lounge or office area. So dishes washed in the bathroom. No counter either.
• Bathrooms in the 90’ section in good shape.
• 90’ section Room 4 has moisture problems that seeps up from underneath.
• Drains need to be vacuumed out and routine maintenance done to them.
• Wiring old in the school and there is no television/AV access in some rooms because of this. Can’t broadcast to each room and not enough television for each classroom.
• No decent chairs for all the students to sit on. Younger students getting taller and some grades have inadequate chairs because of this. Especially 1st and 2nd graders.
• A quote this year had 24 chairs costing $934 dollars. These are mid-size 3rd and 4th grade chairs.
• Teacher kitchen is an office room. It has a microwave, coffee machine, a little fridge on an old side table, bottled water (because no sink) and a small round table to eat at.
• The students on the roof can leave footprints on the skylight above the main office. Kids walk on it when they get on the roof. Kids get up there in waves and mostly in the summer. In August of 2008 it happened in waves, seemed like every Tuesday.
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• Bus Routes: Collection points in some of the bigger subdivisions to cut down on drive times. Could just do it on the middle and high school levels.
• Bus Routes: Need more buses and drivers for them.
Wow! I'm not sure if this is sad or frightening or both. I'd like to hope the School Board and Board of Supervisors can figure out how to fix these issues.
Posted by: TK42ONE | December 10, 2008 at 11:52 AM