School Maintenance Cannot Keep up With Deteriorating Facilities

Despite the best efforts of K-12 school custodial and maintenance crews, the deteriorating condition of many schools across the country makes them unsafe for students and staff. NBC News reports that public school buildings conditions have worsened throughout the years and schools across the country are calling for more federal help to restore old and damaged buildings.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office released a report last June on the condition of K-12 school facilities and found that public schools across the country need heat and air conditioning repairs. Many contain lead in old paint on the walls and in the drinking water due to outdated pipes. Some suffer from leaks and low drainage during heavy rainstorms, and others still use 1930s-era boilers, among other issues. The report was “the first comprehensive picture of the dilapidated state of school facilities since Congress tried to call attention to the problem nearly 25 years ago,” according to NBC News.

The conditions have worsened throughout the years at many schools, and environmental engineering experts and local officials worry that not even financial assistance from the federal government can fix the issue.

“It really is a national tragedy when you start looking at these schools and understand what kids are subjected to,” Jerry Roseman, an environmental engineer for the Philadelphia teachers union, told NBC News.

The American Rescue Plan would put US$193 billion into schools. According to the U. S. Education Department, this money can be used on “school facility repairs and improvements to reduce the risk of virus transmission and exposure to environmental health hazards, as well as inspection, testing, maintenance, repair, replacement, and upgrade projects to improve the indoor air quality in school facilities.”

However, the backlog of school maintenance and repair projects nationwide is estimated at $500 billion, according to the 21st Century School Fund. Additionally, schools are cautioned against new construction projects because federal financial funding is set aside to remedy learning loss and to hire teachers and support staff members.

School districts also have the financial pressure of adding new security features in response to the numerous school shootings.

Nikolai Vitti, superintendent of the Detroit Public Schools Community District, told NBC News, “When I became superintendent [in 2017], the most glaring example of disparity was the infrastructure” like decaying ceiling tiles, lack of heat in the winter and stifling conditions during the warmer months. “That’s a Third World country infrastructure issue, not something that we should be thinking about in America,” he said.