Daily News: City School Buildings Little Better Than Slums

The Children First mayor runs a hell of a school system:

Broken toilets, faulty elevators and leaky ceilings — some city public schools are practically slums, according to an analysis of building inspections the school cleaners union released Tuesday.

The report by the Service Employees International Union Local 32 tallied scores from the city’s annual inspections of about 1,500 public schools to create a list of the worst offenders. Most had at least one outstanding violation.

Local 32 President Hector Figueroa said he was “surprised at the level of neglect and indifference” in many school buildings, as revealed by the city’s own inspections.

“When you have doors that don’t work, the presence of PCBs, windows that don’t shut and toilets in disrepair, you risk the health of our children,” Figueroa said. “You disrupt the daily routines that are necessary for learning.”

The union’s data on decay in public school buildings came from city inspections conducted in 2011 and 2012.

Inspectors who conducted the ongoing school visits checked school facilities for maintenance issues and cleanliness and spoke with staffers about any problems.

 PS 178 St. Clair Mckelway in Brooklyn has 20 open building violations for serious problems like broken doors that won’t shut, defective windows in the gym, and water leaking through the roof and damaging rooms below.

At Brooklyn Technical High School, Principal Randy Asher told inspectors in January 2012 that the school had “frequent elevator breakdowns” and “the basement floods frequently.” 

Tech ranked No. 11 on the union’s list of troubled buildings.

At Public School 151 in Brooklyn, which ranked No. 9 on the union’s list, Principal Maria Anaya told inspectors in December 2011 that the “toilets are in need of an upgrade” and “water sits in big puddles in the drain in the schoolyard.”

And at Junior High School 72 in Queens, building problems booted Principal Chrystal Brown out of her office, Brown told inspectors in December 2011.

After the removal of the burned-out lighting ballasts in the principal’s office, the room still cannot be used due to a severe odor,” stated the report, which also noted “extensive leaks in several classrooms and the gym.”

Education Department spokeswoman Margie Feinberg said the city is spending more than $3 billion on building improvements under its four-year capital plan from 2010-14

“Any serious maintenance-related complaints are addressed immediately,” said Feinberg.

“Non-critical complaints are prioritized with the repair work for the building.”

But Richmond Hill High School teacher Charles DiBenedetto said the Queens school has been waiting for repairs to the electrical system for months.

“We have to shut the lights off in one room in order to operate the microwave — otherwise, we blow a fuse,” said DiBenedetto. “We have outlets that don’t work.”

I have long asked how somebody who says he puts "Children First" could let students attend such broken-down buildings full of toxins and filth?

Why doesn't somebody in the press ask him this the next time he's iving a press conference?

Hey, mayor, the DN reported your school buildings are slums and you're a slum lord.  What do you have to say about that?