Compilation of Task Force Survey Comments

Many of you are aware that the Task Force conducted a survey of parents and students last year.
While the overall results were published and have been made available on the web, I had personally not seen the comments from the parents/students/staff and I think they are worth reading. These were compiled by Jodie Ambrosino — thanks Jodie!

Notes about survey process: Survey was placed on web and available from December 1, 2006 through January 31, 2007. Participation was encouraged through multiple local outlets (e.g., Compass, local cable television station). Additionally, Guilford parents and staff received listserv notices containing links to the on-line survey. For Guilford HS students, an icon linked directly to the survey was placed on their school accounts.

Guilford Public Schools Staff —161 Respondents
Parents of GPS Students — 612 Respondents
Guilford Residents (No children in school) — 25 Respondents
Guilford High School Students — 325 Respondents
Adams Middle School Students — 547 Respondents

Besides the structured survey questions, there was one open-ended question which asked: “If you could make one change to the current school facilities, what would it be?” Below are powerful comments grouped by respondent.

Parent Comments:

1. Enough classroom space so student and teachers were not meeting in closets or other use spaces.
2. Bring HS up to comparative standards with other schools in the area. There are leaks, mold growing on walls, the halls are crowded, kids are eating in the classroom, not enough space, stadium is totally outdated—the HS needs attention!! Attending surrounding high schools bring a realization of how poorly our town invests in the future of our schools.
3. The school bldgs in Guilford are very old. With all the money we pay as taxpayers in this town, we should have state-of-the-art schools and technology. Our children are our future; therefore we should provide them the tools to help them forge ahead!
4. Ventilation and mold-related cleanliness….my child’s allergies have increased greatly since the heat has been turned on at the HS
5. The room across the main office has NO second means of exit….If there was an emergency at the main office or fire, the kids and teachers would be helpless.
6. All classrooms should be within the bldg, not temporary classrooms not close to lavatories.
7. We feel strong that the impact of a wonderfully designed school facility can help students respect their community, themselves, and bring out the best in each child. It is important that our children know that we care about them and want to provide them with best facilities we can offer.
8. The property taxes of homeowners should be used and made sufficient to cover the cost of maintaining the school facilities in a good state.
9. Rip those horrific rugs out of the HS hallways. They are unsanitary, cause health issues for many, previously health kids and they are a virtual bacteria farm.
10. The current HS is unacceptable. Ceilings that leak, cafeteria that is too small, hallways that are too small, disjointed flow of classrooms. It is a shame that an affluent community like Guilford has such a poor HS.
11. I was sorely disappointed with the HS which looks more like a correctional facility. I think we should take pride in our schools as a community to help develop the future of our children. They should be facilities that inspire not confine our children.
12. I’m not sure, but I think that the size and number of schools in our system no longer fits the size and number for children living in the community. Guilford continues to expand and I think that our schools will continue to suffer from over-crowding.

Staff Comments:

1. All classrooms should be more technologically advanced to support student learning.
2. While this is not a change, one is simply too little, I’d like our BOE to be in our bldgs. Perhaps, someone would join Mrs. Walker at Adams when she is physically mopping and carting water out of the 1st floor at 6:00AM after a heavy rain so that students can somewhat safely enter at 7:45. A BOE might also try to endure 6 ½ hours in an un-airconditioned room on the 2nd floor at Adams full of teenagers in Sept or June. Our new BOE and I work and pay taxes in this town, is NOT present in our bldgs,. They seek to cut costs and do not listen to teachers or administrators, nor do they do any investigation themselves
3. HS has no insulation in the walls, weather-stripping on the windows or thermal paned windows. Cold air actually whistles through the bldg.
4. I believe that Adams and HS should be major priorities. The ventilation and crowdedness concern me the most at both schools. During the fall and spring many classrooms are unbearably hot and I am concerned about the quality of the learning for the students. While now teaching at>>>>., I see what a remarkable difference it makes in students productivity to have air conditioning. It is not about being comfortable, but about making the most of the effort student put forth by providing an appropriate learning environment. Our town own is growing and it would be great if we could get a step ahead on expanding our school facilities to provide an adequate learning environment.
5. Stop spending money on repairs that are inadequate and/or temporary.
6. I think that this school (HS) needs to be warmer, cleaner, updated environment and look like it belongs in this great town.
7. HS was built in a different time ear with different needs. Bottom line, a NEW facility is needed to attain the numerous goals of this district.
8. Since I teach Science at Adams MS in substandard and dreadfully outdated and inadequate facilities, I believe that classroom space and configuration are the key issues. With a support column in my classroom, I cannot even put notes on the board! My one suggestion would be for updating classroom facilities and space at Adams MS
9. To renovate to adjust for needed changes for the 21st century. Too many costly band-aid projects have taken place—if changes are to be made, they need to be well thought out and planned for the educational needs of the 21st century.
10. Both of my children and I suffer from allergies. We leave our house in the morning and we are fine. We all come home very congested, and my daughter’s eczema flares up as well. It seems to be the worst in the HS gym, although some other rooms are bad too. One look up at the fans on the ceiling in the high school gym or the vents in the other gyms and you wonder if they are cleaned regularly. Our biggest allergy is to dust….I would love to see the dust level in the gyms and other rooms kept to a minimum
11. I am fortunate that I am presently in the portables, which are air conditioned, heated and rather new…….I will probably move to the second floor….it is usually terribly hot in June and early Sept…..best solution is a new school.

HS Students Comments:

1. I would get rid of the rot and mold in the walls and 2nd floor; I would clear the rain holes in the ceiling, not just put buckets under it like we do. I would make the place smell much better, air fresheners, then we won’t know what we really are breathing in which is the air from everyone else in the overcrowded school. It altogether makes it hard to breathe, it makes it makes it small, it makes it a bad living environment. This school needs a cleaner air atmosphere.
2. One change I would make is to allow for students to get to their classes on time but this is not possible b/c it is overwhelmingly crowded. We have to expand our school to allow for a more comfortable space. I feel ashamed when we have visitors and they cannot walk through the halls.
3. Get rid of the mold/ceiling/leak problem. I had to sit next to a ceiling tile dripping into a trashcan for a week last year…and it was absolutely disgusting. I winced every time it dripped. There are also people allergic to the mold in the school, making it bad for their health to go to school...people sick from being in the school (not b/c of being w/lots of people, but b/c of the bldg itself ) is unacceptable.
4. Our problems of mold are not fixed by the roof change alone. Mold still lives in this school. The ceiling tiles have disgusting watermarks all over them. There are leaks and there is an overall disgraceful environment. I often find myself disgusted at the facility I need to be in 5 days a week.
5. Mold problems have a profound affect on my health….it causes me to have chronic headaches.
6. There should be a better layout of the school so that it is more beneficial transferring from one class to the other w/out major hallway traffic as there is now.
7. There are too many students attending the school (HS). Also, the condition that the school is in (literally falling apart) could be improved greatly.
8. The mold is still in the walls; some students and teachers can’t teach or learn and have to move b/c the mold is so bad. Shannon had to be hospitalized b/c she is so allergic to the school. It smells and sometimes you can’t breathe if you have allergies. Our school is too small and really old. It is probably not even up to health code. It is a box of cancer that 3000 students have to spend 5 days a week in.
9. Get rid of the mold! I’m allergic to it, so I’ve been sick since September. Being sick in school all the time seriously distracts from being able to learn anything. I feel like one reason I am not living up to my potential here is that we have mold, causing my sinus headaches and lack of energy.
10. It is embarrassing to have other schools see our crummy facilities while theirs are luxurious in comparison. The water issue causing falling ceiling tiles and waterlogged carpets and soaking wet desks and cha irs is completely unacceptable.
11. Everyone should get a lunch period
12. The ceilings are falling apart. Asbestos is in the walls. After a rain storm I feel like a Katrina refugee….It smells like mold. …All in all, we probably just need a new school, not this internment camp.
13. ….I find it particularly appalling that the response to these problems has consistently been shoddy quick-fixes. For example, when the ceiling tiles began to break and fall, instead of solving the problem, the school installed sheet metal tiles so that it is impossible for them to crumble. If I , as a student, were to perform at this level in my school work, I would be failed.
14. Adams is a mess…..The HS requires better restrooms, better layout, a new auditorium and better temperature. The HS requires a better layout b/c it can take a long time for students to even access their lockers….
15. Improve ventilation and get rid of mold.
16. There seems to be a recurring pattern, that I’ve heard from both students and teachers, that he or she seems to feel perfectly fine at home, but once coming to the school, symptoms of congestion, colds, itchy eyes or other cold-related symptoms develop w/in the school day. This may be connected with the severe mold issue present at the HS.
17. The layout of the HS; classes are too far away from each other or lengthen the passing period. Going from the cafeteria to the science wind takes too long...and the halls are overcrowded.
18. There are not enough tables and chairs in the cafeteria to fit everyone scheduled for the lunch…to secure a table you have to get there ridiculously early…People are constantly sick b/c of the amount of mold growing due to the leaky roofs. I am tired of tripping over trash cans in the middle of the hallway catching dripping water from the ceiling as I’m on my way to class. The hallways are overcrowded to the extreme…it takes me at least the maximum amount of passing time to get from my English class on one side of the building to my math class next period
19. This school (HS) needs everything fixed, including the mold, air quality, everything. This school, when it comes to the bldg is probably one of the worst in the district, for instance there are teachers who can’t work here any more b/c of the mold problem and many of students including myself, are very allergic to mold and many things in the school. I feel that this school needs to be completely redone for the health and safety of the students and the staff.
20. Our bathrooms are the most unsanitary and worst facilities. First of all, I would like to say that there are only 4 bathrooms stalls on the main floor of the school for all of the girls in the schools to use, unless of course you would like to risk the chance of being late to class to endure the long walk to the basement in the math wing to find a large number of available stalls..
21. Knock it down and build a new school….Issues such as temperature and mold should be addressed correctly and not merely “pushed under the carpet.” The ventilation is deplorable, it has come to the day and age when air conditioning is a necessity in all bldings b/c the interior temp gets so hot that students want to get send to SAC just to get cool, how depressing is that?! Please fix our school or at least get us a new one!
22. Maintain a normal temp in school, often classrooms are boiling or freezing in the winter.
23. Temp is usually enough to be a nuisance b/c it changes drastically from room to room, and the layout of the school can be a problem b/c its often very hard to get from cafeteria to the science wing unless you go outside, which poses a probem in bad weather. There is also a time problem getting to the science wing from the English wing, seeing as the library foyer ALWAYS has a jam between periods which is not only a possible fire hazard, but is a main block in getting to your destination in a timely fashion.
24. Blow it up and start over.
25. After attending private schools, and then coming here I have come to realize that an aesthetically pleasing environ ment helps, rather then distracts from a student’s learning.
26. Due to the mold in the school, people are getting sick…this school is a GERM POOL! Fix that!

Hope to see you at the meeting next Tuesday! (August 5th, Community Center, 6.30pm. Free childcare will be provided)