'Tis the season... for boiler breakdowns
Teachers and students, congratulations. You've survived the warm weather of late summer and early fall that left you sweltering in un-air conditioned classrooms.
Now it's time to freeze.
The boiler breakdowns have already begun. At the Poly/Western complex, city school system officials confirm, two of the four boilers are completely shot. Facilities staff have been working this week to repair one of the other two, which wasn't working but is not beyond repair. Officials say the fourth is functioning, but it is not up to capacity. In other words, it emits heat, but it doesn't blast it.
I must say, I feel for the facilities staff, having to solve emergencies like this all the time. The state has lauded BCPSS for implementing a preventive maintenance program, but the city's school buildings are so old and were neglected for so long that it's hard to keep up.
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Comments
Boilers are not the only issues in schools. How about leaky windows, elevators that malfunction regularly, bathroom stalls that are weak and leaning? The list goes on and on. Quite frankly, I am continually amazed that the schools manage to function as well as they do given the amount of neglect that has been shown to the buildings over the years. Once again, students are shown in a very concrete way that they are not a priority in the city. Even the newest schools in the system are old by contemporary standards and have insufficient wiring and other amenities to properly assure 21st century instruction. In an era of failing property taxes and income, I don't know if there is an answer in the foreseeable future but something needs to be done to address the issue.
Posted by: vetern teacher | October 25, 2008 10:55 AM