Track at Northwood

[Gene Galin]

From:    SUSANDIFRANCO__at__aol.com
Date:    2007/02/24 Sat PM 04:43:16 EST
To:    Normanc, uncdeb__at__earthlink.net, gertot__at__earthlink.net, hduncan__at__chatham.k12.nc.us, Kathie__at__rdulaw.com, ahart__at__chatham.k12.nc.us,
Subject:    Track at Northwood
   
I am writing in such a state of despair.  My daughter just joined the track team at Northwood. The track team had a meeting about the track team on Feb. 23. Their are 86 students on the track team.  That is wonderful.  The PROBLEM..Northwood CANNOT hold any TRACK MEETS at HOME  because the track is in terrible condition, so terrible that kids practicing on such a poor track is an accident waiting to happen.  Some kids have to travel to other schools or facilities to practice.  This is horrendous. Embarrassing. Forget any new highschool that is not happening or never will be happening, these old neglected schools have to be repaired. Is their NO PRIDE for these children?? The work also needs to be done right. Not just covering up the problem. The track must totally be broken up and a new kind of track be put down.  The starting blocks are old and broken, in bad shape.  With no new highschools in site, what will keep happening to all the OLD highschools in Chatham County that are overcrowded now and getting worse as time goes by.?The students at these schools deserve better. Please school board members, think about our children.

[gonewest]

That track was scheduled to be replaced this year.  The monies were allocated to do track replacement/repair at all the high schools.  It's in the budget.

The last thing I heard was that there was a problem with the material they were going to use and you couldn't drive over it.

AGAIN, this is Paul Joyce's JOB.  I have a list a page long of things just like this that either DON'T get done or were done so poorly as to endanger students/staff or cost the taxpayers unnecessary expense.

My suggestion is to call MR JOYCE at 542-3626 and ask him directly. (Posting here will do nothing.)

While you are at it

Ask him why they would place the POD at Northwood at the only real buildable location for an permanent addition..which is what we really needed in the first place.

Then ask him why it took a half dozen kids breaking bones to get mulch at Perry Harrison last year (after we had to close the playground)

Why it took 7 years to figure out closing in the breezeway at the entrance of Harrison would solve the bird poo issue (after spending $$$ on plastic owls and "noise making devices)

Why do none of the clocks work at Northwood? Why did it take bringing in the media and taking pictures to get Northwood cleaned and painted?  (many thanks to Ms. Little for pushing those buttons)

Why was the erosion problem at PHS left unchecked until students and teachers were injured, on TA left with a broken arm?  Even after school administration and parents complained for years?

Why is substandard contruction signed off on?  Leaking roofs.  Walls built of particle board against fire code (NW weight room)  Doors are hung so they open the wrong was (NW)  Walls are built OVER light fixtures so you can't change the bulbs (NW Guidance office). 

Why did it take parents and new administration to remove the antiquated restaurant kitchen from Northwood that hadn't been used in over two decades?  Even though the teacher was in dire need of the space? (This was requested for at least a decade that I know about and wasn't done until Dr. Hart said "do it")

Why do parents have to fix the hot water supply to the teachers bathroom at Northwood?  (there had been none for YEARS)

Why do certain schools get maintained better than others? 

There's more, so much more.

My question to the BOE has been...why does Paul Joyce still have his job as the superintendent over Facilities.  That answer I got was..."he's about to retire"...."he does the other parts of his job well"..."we didn't want to completely burn our bridges between the old administration and this one"...."he's a nice guy but...."


OK.  I guess there's your answer Sue.

[gertot]

You folks need to keep throwing those strikes.  They are being read and some action is contemplated.  I think what we have allowed a number of our schools to become as a result of inattention to routine maintenace is almost criminal but I promise some of my effort will be to rectify that shortcoming.

So keep pitching!  We can't fix everything at once but there will be some effort to try over a reasonable time.

Gerald Totten

[Gene Galin]

Nice to see someone on the BOE publicly acknowledging the problems parents see.

Let's see what happens in Monday's meeting.

[kimmimom]

the rec dept also has the Hershey Track and Field program for kids 9-14 and they have run into the same problem.  They can't have meets at NW due to the poor shape of the track.  It is also difficult to practice and time the kids there due to the markings on the track and figuring out where 50 m, 100 m, etc lines start and finish are b/c those lines are long gone.  I can't give exact numbers of how many kids participate in that program, but it is several dozen each year.  I knew the track was on the budget to be replaced this year and hoped we would find that done when we started the Hershey program next month.  Sad to hear that is not the case.   

[munn5]

Walls built of particle board against fire code (NW weight room) 

If this is the case, the Fire Marshall is also at fault. Woods is inspected by the Fire Marshall at least once a year, and they have found minor things wrong and required the school to fix them immediately (and then reinspected to ensure the problem was fixed). If the Fire Marshall is not inspecting NW and the other county schools annually, and forcing dangerous conditions to be remedied immediately, then the Fire Marshall is negligent.  It might be another way to put pressure on the school system to repair dangerous conditions. (Call the health department, too. They do annual inspections, as well.)

[flossiesmom]

That track was scheduled to be replaced this year.  The monies were allocated to do track replacement/repair at all the high schools.  It's in the budget.

The last thing I heard was that there was a problem with the material they were going to use and you couldn't drive over it.

That is a terrible excuse for not having the track completed.  What is the problem with using the same material that's on the rest of the tracks around the country?

[gonewest]

They are trying to update with a rubberized track material.  I was at the meeting about 6 months ago when P.Joyce said there was an issue about driving over this material. I haven't seen or heard an update since.

Would be nice if this sort of information could be included in the fluffy-feel good newsletter.

The schools were not always inspected.  When NW was built there were no mandatory fire codes or inpections.  I know...hard to believe, but true.  Hell, it wasn't until the early 1980's that you had to have your home contruction inspected in Chatham...that's scarier.  And before 1983 your electrician/plumber in Chatham didn't have to be liscensed either...ahh,,,  the good old days.

But that does not excuse the fact that this construction...as much of the fire code violations at NORTHWOOD...have been allowed to remain over the years.  That's why we can't add on to the building of Northwood...because we'd have to bring the entire building up to code.  (Although I was told by a fire chief in Chapel Hill that is eronious info.) 

[VAHeel]

the field house and weight room are particularly nasty, as you've said many times.  It's embarrassing as well as disgusting.  As a matter of fact, that entire gym area is pretty shabby.  Dirtyness aside,  Northwood has some good sports, depending on the year, but theres not enough space to go around for storage and team rooms.  I hope that the new high school will be built with a better planned space for athletics.

[munn5]

But that does not excuse the fact that this construction...as much of the fire code violations at NORTHWOOD...have been allowed to remain over the years. 

So charter schools are held to higher safety standards than county schools? County schools don't have to meet fire regulations? That cannot be right.

Mr. Totten (or other school board member), can you verify that county schools are permitted to not meet fire codes, and do not have to remedy unsafe conditions (as found by the fire marshall and health inspector)? 

[VAHeel]

I think they're considered grandfathered in.  All new construction must meet the same standards that all buildings do.  Northwood was built in the 70's, remember.

[gertot]

Mr. Totten (or other school board member), can you verify that county schools are permitted to not meet fire codes, and do not have to remedy unsafe conditions (as found by the fire marshall and health inspector)? 

County schools ARE inspected annually by both the Fire and Health Department inspectors.  I can't explain why deficiencies have not been corrected except to say many of the items I have seen are put into that drawer called "deferred maintenance" if there is such a thing.  Supposedly there is almost two million dollars in certain school funds which can be used for repairs and projects such as these.  If you follow the statutes, there is no need for the school system to sit on fund balances except for current expenses.  For years I have heard the school officials and, yes, the school boards (before this one) scream to high heavens that "there isn't any money." There isn't money for health and safety items for the students and schools but somehow at year end they find big bucks to buy computers when there was no plan to use them at the time and untold amounts of office supplies delivered to schools which neither requisitioned them or had a place to store them ad nauseum. 

Somehow the schools' auditor recommended a minimum of 10% in fund balance however that recommendation totally ignores the statutes which require the County Commissioners to provide certain funding to the schools.  If the County Commissioners have to - by law - fund those items for the schools, why is it deemed necessary for the schools to duplicate the accounts?  It isn't but it allows for a slush fund to be used as somewhat of a private bank account by the central office, some of which - over $300,000 last year - was allocated as extra supplements to certain school employees, some 2/3 of the amount paid to central office members of "the cabinet", most of whom were new hires.  The rest seems to be hoarded for year end purchases by central office and board whim.

What we seem to have is a lack of priorities, something a line item budget and commissioner approval of school budgets based upon "allocation by purpose and function" could correct,  That is a means whereby the schools do not have the privilege of intermixing funds as they do now.  My opinion is that the virtually unfettered grant of money to the schools is not in the best interest of taxpayer funds and has not been for many years nor have the school teachers, staff and students been the total benefactors.

I have but one vote on the Board of Education but I have promised to use it for the improvement of the systems.  A great deal of that improvement will be transparency of what the board does if I know about it and tighter fiscal controls by the board.

Gerald Totten

[kimmimom]

Cole Park is quite old itself, it must have  been built in the early 1980s?  So would it not be "grandfathered" in too?

[gertot]

Unsafe and unhealthy conditions are not grandfathered in.  The building itself is unless there are unsafe or unhealthy conditions.

[kimmimom]

That track was scheduled to be replaced this year.  The monies were allocated to do track replacement/repair at all the high schools.  It's in the budget.

The last thing I heard was that there was a problem with the material they were going to use and you couldn't drive over it.

AGAIN, this is Paul Joyce's JOB.  I have a list a page long of things just like this that either DON'T get done or were done so poorly as to endanger students/staff or cost the taxpayers unnecessary expense.

My suggestion is to call MR JOYCE at 542-3626 and ask him directly. (Posting here will do nothing.)

While you are at it

Ask him why they would place the POD at Northwood at the only real buildable location for an permanent addition..which is what we really needed in the first place.

Then ask him why it took a half dozen kids breaking bones to get mulch at Perry Harrison last year (after we had to close the playground)

Why it took 7 years to figure out closing in the breezeway at the entrance of Harrison would solve the bird poo issue (after spending $$$ on plastic owls and "noise making devices)

Why do none of the clocks work at Northwood? Why did it take bringing in the media and taking pictures to get Northwood cleaned and painted?  (many thanks to Ms. Little for pushing those buttons)

Why was the erosion problem at PHS left unchecked until students and teachers were injured, on TA left with a broken arm?  Even after school administration and parents complained for years?

Why is substandard contruction signed off on?  Leaking roofs.  Walls built of particle board against fire code (NW weight room)  Doors are hung so they open the wrong was (NW)  Walls are built OVER light fixtures so you can't change the bulbs (NW Guidance office). 

Why did it take parents and new administration to remove the antiquated restaurant kitchen from Northwood that hadn't been used in over two decades?  Even though the teacher was in dire need of the space? (This was requested for at least a decade that I know about and wasn't done until Dr. Hart said "do it")

Why do parents have to fix the hot water supply to the teachers bathroom at Northwood?  (there had been none for YEARS)

Why do certain schools get maintained better than others? 

There's more, so much more.

My question to the BOE has been...why does Paul Joyce still have his job as the superintendent over Facilities.  That answer I got was..."he's about to retire"...."he does the other parts of his job well"..."we didn't want to completely burn our bridges between the old administration and this one"...."he's a nice guy but...."


OK.  I guess there's your answer Sue.

So how does this pass fire inspection, specifically, the particle board Meg mentions? ( i have not been in the weight room, so i don't know anything about it) 

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