A few weeks back I wrote commentary on an article featured in the local paper about local public schools having no heating this winter. You can read it here.
Today’s commentary is on the follow up article written in our local paper here
The Title:
“Whitehall Classrooms Have Heat Again”
“All the classrooms at Whitehall Elementary have working heat this week and a more permanent solution is coming”, said Kevin Maxwell, CEO of Prince George’s County Public Schools.
All of the classrooms have working heat. More permanent?
“I was over there the other day and they’ve got temporary heaters in all of the rooms so the rooms are comfortable,” he said. “They are in the process of identifying a vendor (for new HVAC equipment) and placing an order in order to replace” the current equipment. My folks assured me that the were going to be able to identify a product, order it and get it installed and we hope that it will be installed before the cooling season hits.”
Got it. They’re temporary heaters. These schools have had problems since before the school year started, they’ve known about the lack of heat in Whitehall and thermostat problems in Bowie High, since at least November 2016. Here it is February, and they’ve gotten a few more temporary heaters in the rooms at Whitehall since last month.
Maxwell visited the school last week to make sure the classrooms were comfortable. A flurry of activity by maintenance workers preceded his visit, according to one parent at the school.
Ah yes, the good ol’ grip-n-grin session for the CEO.
“I went over myself the other day and the facilities people walked (us) through,” Maxwell said. “Our parents and students at Whitehall can know that a solution is on the way – not a temporary solution, but a (real) solution.”
Good for him. An e-mail campaign, a PTA meeting with the District Rep from Annapolis, and a meeting at the School Board, to get this guy to tell them “A solution is on the way”. Well that’s reassuring. The check is in the mail.
“As of (last) Monday, all our classrooms had heat for the first time since November,” said Katie Moran, president of the Whitehall Parent-Teacher Association. “I feel good about that.”
Good thing you’re there mom. They wouldn’t have moved one inch by now. This is just a situation that should show how unable to help, these bureaucrats are.
Heat has been spotty at Whitehall, as well as Bowie High School and Samuel Ogle Middle School, since the fall. Parents reported their children were attending class wearing winter coats and long underwear and many students were missing class because of colds, sore throats and other infections.
They haven’t even talked about what fixes are in the works at Bowie High or Samuel Ogle. It’s taken since November to get temporary heaters in the classrooms at Whitehall.
Parents from several schools met in early January to discuss the problem in depth and try to come up with effective ways to lobby the school system for better maintenance and state officials for more funding.
It’s always about funding. It’s never about priorities or accountability. These parents are really suggesting to lobby for more personnel and funding. Get ready for more debt and tax increases, as the problems continue. These people are delusional to think this problem of funding and personnel is going away within a system run by bureaucrats.
Moran went before the school board in person to make her plea for improvements. Her daughter Emma, a third-grader at Whitehall, also spoke of the problems with the cold classrooms.
“I have to think that didn’t hurt,” Moran said. “It was probably just a coincidence the way things worked out, but I got the feeling Dr. Maxwell heard me.”
If he has a soul, perhaps.
According to school system documents, there were more than 800 open work orders for heat-related problems inside the county’s 200-plus school buildings at one point last month. Ten of those work orders involved problems at Bowie High School.
Cold classrooms aren’t the only temperature issue. Katie Eckenrode, PTSO president at Bowie High School, said some classrooms there are unbearably hot – even during the winter months.
“I think it seriously impedes your ability to pay attention to a teacher,” she said. “It makes it impossible to focus on the work in front of you. What I’m hot, I’m grouchy. The teachers are grouchy. They’ve been in these classrooms all day long. Research shows that the learning environment is a huge factor in kids’ ability to pay attention to their schoolwork … I just don’t think the research is wrong there.”
These problems are not about maintenance of school buildings. That’s the easy part. This is about priorities and accountability. These are 2 traits non-existent in government. These parents are relying on school boards and bureaucrats.
Raaheela Ahmed, the school board member whose district includes Bowie, said she and others have spoken with Maxwell and other board members about the maintenance problems throughout the system and what is needed to fix them.
“We had a robust conversation about what it would take to fix some of the maintenance issues, not only at Whitehall but across the district and across the county,” she said. “Really, it comes down to staff and it comes down to funds. A lot of those concerns are being addressed in this (education) budget. But we have millions and millions of dollars worth of need.”
Would you have to be in this robust meeting to know the solution would come down to personnel and funds? I’ve never heard solutions from bureaucrats where these two items weren’t at the forefront.
The county has about $2 billion worth of deferred maintenance projects, said Sam Stefanelli, director of building services for Prince George’s County Public Schools, who spoke at last month’s meeting.
The Director of Building Services for Prince George’s County Public Schools, has revealed the County has deferred $2 Billion worth of maintenance projects. This shows you the extent of the problems, and is assurance they’ll never be resolved. I would not want to be in Sam’s shoes.
The parents will listen to bureaucrats that tell them to lobby for more funds. How much time and money is it going to cost these parents to lobby government for basic building maintenance? Up the chain the begging will go. There will be a lot of head nods and words spoken.
These schools have been mismanaged for 118 years. This is not going to change until the recessions are so bad, funding is completely cut off. Think Detroit. The only fix is a change of parental attitudes towards their responsibility for the education of their children. Any bureaucrats who want to make a difference should cease being bureaucrats and get involved in free market solutions in education. This is the future. A difference can be made in the free market.
You can’t beat somethin’ with nothin’
The Parent Teacher Association’s (PTA) of each Bowie school with maintenance issues, could organize fund raisers within their local communities and earmark these funds for HVAC maintenance at their specific schools. This would bypass the school board. Teachers and principals may cooperate. This is a free market solution. Parents not involved in the PTA would respond “what are we paying them for then?” It would take a lot of parents involvement and personal checks to clear. This is the number 2 solution. It’s not happening. So the problems will take a long time to fix, only to be replaced by other problems.
The number one solution is to withdraw the kids from the Public School System. Parents are beginning to do this, but on a small scale. “Free Education” is too great a marketing trap. Parents are free to bring home 2 incomes. That’s a lot of moral hazard to overcome.
Conclusion
These problems will continue without a change of attitude from parents. Moms and Dads involved in the PTA’s, you would make outstanding home school parents and coop leaders. You’re the real organizers. You have “skin” in the game with your children. Why rely on county bureaucrats? Faith remaining in school boards and politicians is misplaced, and is a waste of your resources.