During the beginning of November, HP students experienced rain in areas around the country and even indoors! Inside some of the 300s classrooms, there was leaking which was common before construction took place and part of the proposed renovations was to prevent these types of leaks.
Despite the reopening of the 300s, the leaks have continued. How do the teachers and students feel about this?
Leaking in buildings can cause disturbance and distractions to teachers and students as it can cause seating space to be moved and noise. Even a minor pipe leak can cause serious damage to ceilings, carpets, and hardwood flooring. It could have also damaged the equipment and personal belongings of people who left their stuff in these classrooms since it should have been expected to be safe from rain. Lastly, it can cause structural damage.
¨Leaks definitely affect students in the sense that buildings are supposed to be the place to stay dry. Rather than the school worrying about who’s going to the bathroom and how long, they should focus on student safety in the buildings.¨ said Sophia Bejarano.
Although these repairs are needed they only affect class time during rain. There have already been 15 leaks reported to the district; some are in the new buildings including the library. As they continue working on other buildings we have to think about what will be done about leaks in buildings that have already been “finished”.
¨I was disappointed when a leak was discovered in my room when we got our first rain. However, I knew that structural modernization had not occurred in the 300s. They did great work on lighting and ac. It would be great if we can turn the heat on during the day when people are here.” said Bonsteel, history teacher.
The improvements in the building that has been happening on our campus are something the school has been looking forward to as well as teachers and staff who for example had to deal with the leaks in past years.
¨ It’s frustrating because there have to be accommodations, teachers and students have to leave their classrooms, ¨ said Lombarski, assistant principal.
With expected rain in December, how will teachers and students continue to deal with the leaks? Teachers will have to make sure things they leave during the winter break are safe from possible leaking.
Part of the reason there is still leaks could be because they were not fixed properly or only the damaged areas got fixed and future leaks are not prevented during new construction. It is predicted the buildings that will continue to have leaks are the main building and the 300s which are the buildings that are ¨done¨.
¨Renovations took longer than they should have, and there were many things that were not finished when they were supposed to be and even things that we knew needed to be fixed were not remedied.” Anonymous Teacher.
Will it take years for the ceilings to get fixed again or did they ever even get fixed?
Written By: Carolina Lopez, Editorials Editor