SCHOOLS: Bryan has fallen behind

I am a parent of two children attending Bryan Elementary. I am supporting the Aug. 28 school bond levy because I believe that health and safety in our school buildings must be a priority in our district.

Bryan Elementary was built in 1962. There have not been major renovations since that time and it shows.

The building layout is antiquated. It does not meet present day standards for a public building housing children in light of modern day security concerns. Anyone could walk onto school grounds and encounter six classrooms of our youngest students first before the office would be aware. Modern school buildings have an office that is a central access point requiring visitors to check in first before accessing classrooms. Bryan’s layout leaves our children vulnerable.

Newer schools in the district have air ventilation where Bryan Elementary has none. Air ventilation is critical around children, especially during the winter months when we see a higher rate of respiratory illness. Thirty children per classroom in a building without ventilation bringing in fresh air creates stagnant contamination for our children to breath. Lack of air ventilation translates into higher absenteeism and higher costs (like medical costs and/or average daily attendance funding for the district).

The east wing of the school building contains eight classrooms of second through fifth grades. These eight classrooms are connected to one another “farmhouse” style and do not have a hallway in between. A second-grade class must walk through three other classrooms, which is disruptive to the learning environment. This layout adds additional stress to each student because of the lack of air ventilation. Each student is subject to stagnant air and respiratory illness of all the other students that walk through these classrooms in order to get to their desk.

A recent group of business folks in our community were invited to walk the halls of our building while school was in session. Words I heard to describe our building conditions were “embarrassing,” “appalling,” “unsafe” and “unbelievable.” I encourage you to tour our building from 5 -7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 9. I believe this building will speak for itself. The bond proposed will bring Bryan Elementary and the other schools like it into the 21st Century WITHOUT raising your taxes.

CHRISTA HAZEL

Coeur d’Alene