SUN EDITORIAL:

Keeping up at school

Backlog in maintenance at Clark County campuses will have consequences

Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009 | 2:07 a.m.

There is a huge backlog of maintenance projects in the Clark County School District. As of July 31, the district had nearly 13,000 pending requests, more than triple the amount it had a year earlier.

As Emily Richmond reported in Wednesday’s Las Vegas Sun, budget cuts have created the backlog, delaying necessary work on a range of projects, including heating, air-conditioning and fire alarm systems.

School board members are expected to receive a report tonight detailing the situation. The district has cut $133 million from its maintenance budget, and that has left the schools struggling to keep up. It is not a pretty picture.

“Current levels of maintenance services are unsustainable and not in the long-term interests of the district,” said Paul Gerner, the district’s associate superintendent of facilities. Pushing off routine maintenance could result in larger costs in the future when the district is able to fix the problems.

Some schools are getting creative to deal with the shortage of custodial workers. The principal of Roy Martin Middle School put brooms and dustpans in the classrooms, letting teachers tidy up a bit. Students there who get in trouble end up cleaning up at lunch time to help out.

It is simple enough to write off the district’s cutbacks as a sign of the troubled economic times, but this is a consequence of Nevada’s failure over the years to provide adequately for education. For example, the School District’s maintenance staff has been understaffed for some time. The district has 453 full-time employees. Under the standards set by the Association of Physical Plant Administrators, the district should have 1,226 full-time employees.

The budget cuts threaten to erode what is supposed to be a safe, clean school environment for students. A school in poor shape sends a message to the students that no one cares about their education. It could also be dangerous — imagine a school with a faulty fire alarm system. The School Board should find a way to reduce the backlog of maintenance projects.

Discussion: 7 comments so far…

By dwms

11/12/09 at 2:39 a.m.

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We protest the Sun removing our comments following the original school maintenance article published yessterday, Wednesday November 11,2009. The comments were removed for being "off topic".

We reiterate - lack of maintenance causing confusion to drivers and children puts children in harm's way. This is abuse and neglect to children by CCSD.

We invite the staff of the Sun to CCSD board meetings (alleged to be every 2nd and 4th Thursday) to hear other abuses and neglect to Clark County children by CCSD.

Clark County's children's deaths due to abuse and neglect are up 230%.
By neiman1

11/12/09 at 5:31 a.m.

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When you soak up every dime in wages and benefits the infrastructure decays. Not a headline, just a known fact that the school districts have ignored for years.
By teacher

11/12/09 at 6:05 a.m.

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Yeah, neiman, stop paying those *&^$% teachers, and maybe there'd be some maintenance money, for godsake.

Thank you for this editorial. The disgusting building where I work needs serious work. People are always ill once the school year begins. But I don't expect it ever to happen. This state's attitude toward kids and teachers is that we're garbage, so let us work in dumps.
By vsestini

11/12/09 at 7:29 a.m.

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The district has plenty of money available, but has used it to increase the administration. Money would be more than adequate to hire more maintenance if 50% of all administrator positions were eliminated district wide. Why do we have re-hired administrators as consultants, specialists, counselors, mentors, superviors, diretors and other mundane make-work geniuses?
They are back to build more into their retirements!

It's about money Ladies and Gentlemen: money for themselves and not for the children. That goes for the PTA-Soccer Moms on the board of trustees.
By mywallet700

11/12/09 at 7:34 a.m.

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Maybe if the teachers wouldn't have hogged all the $$ for their raises, there would be $$ for books, smaller classes and school fix-up work. But NOOOOOO... can't go against the goons at the teachers union. Just ask the Rory or the Dems in the legislature!
By vsestini

11/12/09 at 7:37 a.m.

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Complaints will begin to roll into the central district when children go home complaining about the lack of heat in their classrooms. District official will lament that there are not enough maintenance personnel to keep up with the requests; and, funds are lacking for replacing old, abused equipment. It is the same old story of crying poor mouth, poverty, deprivation of adequate funding for such necessities.

This school district was supposed to have made a 'bare bones' budget cut to eliminate superfilous positions in administration. But, did that happen? Where were they in their concerns for maintenance then? Why has the this district continued to waste money on administration instead of supply the personnel to maintain our schools at a time when preventatie maintenance is more important than hiring more district administrative personnel

We continually see new administrative positons being created but how many general maintenance personnel (actual repairmen,not supervisors) have they hired instead?
By Patrick_R_Gibbons

11/12/09 at 8:58 a.m.

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This isn't a money problem it is a management problem. When the central office dictates how the resources are going to be used it is not going to lead to efficiency or quality service. We don't need more Marxism in public education we need more capitalism and competition. Local schools need to control the facilities budget, allowing them to buy whatever service they need from the public or private sector to serve their needs.

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