Deferred Maintenance Leads to Lack of Toilets in Maryland Schools

Maintaining schools is already a challenging job, but custodians in the Howard County Public School System in Maryland have an especially difficult time due to a US$545 million deferment of more than 300 school maintenance projects, The Baltimore Sun reports.

Deferred maintenance occurs when there is a lack of money for schools. Delayed projects in Howard County schools include stalled work on HVAC systems, roofs, electricity, and plumbing. In fact, plumbing projects are so far behind that at Dunloggin Middle School in Elliot City, Maryland, there are only seven working toilets in the girls’ restrooms, and 13 urinals and six working toilets in the boys’ restrooms. That rate of toilets to students is about 45 girls to one toilet and 52 boys to one toilet.

The biggest maintenance problems at Hammond High School and Talbott Springs Elementary, both in Columbia, Maryland, are mold, inadequate HVAC systems, and mice. The high school roof is leaking, leading to ceiling tiles blackened with mold and students suffering from respiratory problems. Maintenance crews routinely replace the tiles, only to have the new ones get moldy.

The high school also has become overrun with mice, with infestations in the science storage area and classrooms, as well as in the library. The rodents are seen running along the bookshelves and leave droppings on the desks.

Temperatures in both buildings fluctuates greatly, with some rooms so cold that students come to class bundled up, and other rooms are so hot students and staff are sweating.

Howard County legislators are considering imposing an excise tax on any commercial building construction in the county. The revenue from the tax would directly address the school system’s deferred maintenance needs. A bill is currently awaiting a vote. On the day a delegation was scheduled to vote there weren’t enough members at the work session to have a quorum.