My husband works at an elementary school that is over 100 years old. Oh, how wonderful, you may say. A true historic building. It must be awesome to work in a building with such history and fabulous architecture behind it. Thousands of little school children have entered the hallowed halls of Davis Elementary School. Many are long gone, dead and buried. Many are grandparents or even great grandparents to some of the children who now attend their alma mater. And there are many, many wonderful stories and memories they could share about their time at Davis. I'm sure if you had a trained eye, you could see great architecture in the walls at Davis. And, yes, it does have a lot of history. But, unfortunately, the history these days that the staff at Davis is hoping NOT to go down in the books is that of the entire roof caving in while school is in session. And they cross their fingers in the winter time that heating will work. Not too long ago my husband and the other faculty had to conduct parent-teacher conferences wearing coats and hats and gloves - - because the furnace was not working. Yes, it is 100 years old, but even more than 100 years of history, it has 100 years worth of wear and tear and problems that cannot be addressed adequately due to the school's age. Purely for safety purposes it is time to get a new school.
The citizens of the city in which Davis resides have voted down three (yes, THREE) bonds to build a new school. They are either uninformed or uninterested. I go with the latter. The school district has gone to great lengths to inform the citizens of the reasons for the new school. So, why else would they vote "no" other than they don't care or . . . well, they don't care. Next month is another bond vote. We are hoping that the citizens will have had an awakening and that the fourth time will be the charm.
Wish us luck. If this next bond is voted down, I will again sit on the edge of my seat everyday hoping not to hear the news that the walls have fallen in on 100 year old Davis Elementary School.
Random thoughts of a girl who used to try to fit in the box. Then I realized that boxes are stupid. Except this box, the one above. It's really pretty.
Yes. Good luck! Old buildings/homes hold a lot of charm but they also hold a lot of old wiring, windows, furnaces, floor and the trusty roof.. We live in an old up north "cottage." It looks wonderful from the outside but inside we have to put plastic on the windows, the floor is buckled between the living room and dining room, the walls are cracking and we are limited as to how many of anything we can have plugged in at one time! And don't even get me started on our heating bill for this cute, 2 story "cottage" by the lake.. We're moving. I'll take smaller and updated and I'll add my own charm.
ReplyDeleteFor the safety of all concerned I hope you get your new school!
Oh my! That is so sad! Both that safety isn't being paid attention to, and that the old school has to be replaced and cannot be patched up.
ReplyDeleteGood Luck to all of you. Fingers crossed. (Toes, eyes, tongue too.)
I hear your angst. We have three schools in our district: one built in 1930 (very cool retro architecture and lousy wiring and more), one built in 1955 (very 1955-ish but recently retrofitted) and one completely rebuilt ten years ago. The third one was originally built in 1955 as well but was declared unsafe in the event of an earthquake. The district was able to pass a bond and was granted some state monies to rebuild the school. One thing about this town: we seem to, as a community, strongly support bond elections and parcel taxes. That's about the only way we can get anything done.
ReplyDeleteactual topic... very often, unfortunately, something bad has to happen first before people or policymakers get the point .. :(
ReplyDeleteTrue story... Here in the town of Blacksburg Va, we had a gymnasium roof collapse- only 12 hours after it had been at full capacity for a basketball game. No one was in the building when it came down- so no one was hurt. Poorly constructed in 1972..and despite warnings - I think many had been brushed under the rug... we sent our children into a dangerous building. It took a year to condemn the building- AFTER this had happened. (the children were sent to an older building for a year and now have taken over a new middle school). WE are now in the same battle for a new school-Hopefully it will be better built- and we won't cut corners to get it done. Good luck --sounds like we all can use it.
ReplyDeleteIt's the same EVERYWHERE. Why are the schools the last to get any help? I'll get off my soapbox, or I'll never get down.
ReplyDeleteThat's dreadful. One thing I can say about our county here in Georgia is we've always passed every school-supporting temporary tax with flying colors. Another thing a 100 year old school probably has is asbestos. I hope you guys get that new school and soon. The teachers and students deserve better.
ReplyDeleteThis is very sad. I am not sure about the whole building, nut may be your school can add it's name the the program called "Doner's choose ". Hopefully some b=generous people might be able to donate a wall or even have things fixed.
ReplyDeleteI wish that I had means to help out, but being a senior citizen and all is holding a lot of us back.
What a shame that people won't pass a bond when it's so obvious that it is needed! I hope this time around it passes. If not, then I hope some generous folks donate the money needed for repairs!
ReplyDeleteAnother sad story regarding education and our country. Good Luck Judy! My wishes are with you and your hubby!
ReplyDeleteThey just tore down an old school here. My dad attended that school and he is 76 years old, so I know what you are saying about the bistory of an old school. It was purchased years ago by the catholic diocense and was at one time being used for county offices. History didn't save the building when the city said it had to go. : ( It is very sad driving by and only seeing an empty lot now : (
ReplyDeleteHow frustrating that must be. We are very blessed in that most things our district needs are overwhelmingly approved by our taxpayers. Your story makes me appreciate that even more.
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