Rodney Williams points out potential electrical concerns with a ceiling leak in a third-floor Hillhouse classroom. Credit: Maya McFadden Photos The group of parents, teachers, and alders identify a mold spot on the ceiling of the in-school suspension room. Standing next to a trash can filled with water from a leaking ceiling, roughly 20 parents, community members, and alders gathered in a third-floor Hillhouse High School classroom on Friday afternoon and delivered a lesson to the mayor and schools superintendent: Students need safer buildings. Mayor Justin Elicker agreed that the current facilities problems around the district — like what teachers have spoken out about at Hillhouse this week — are not ideal and should be repaired. He also defended his previous sentiment that the building is currently safe for staff and students. Community members disagreed after seeing Hillhouse’s conditions in-person during a group walkthrough. That’s the latest with New Haven Public Schools’ (NHPS) years-delayed maintenance concerns around the school district. Lately teachers, parents, and community members have raised particular concerns with four Hillhouse classrooms that dealt with leaky ceilings due to the school’s aged roof during the first week of the school year. On Friday afternoon, several school district officials and the mayor listened in on a community rally organized outside of Hillhouse after dismissal. The rally was spearheaded by education advocate Nijija Ife-Waters. It later led to Chief of School Operations Paul Whyte providing parents and community members with a walk around the 480 Sherman Pklwy. building to see the building’s conditions themselves. At the rally, which started at around 3 p.m., Ife-Waters criticized the mayor’s previous statement that he was disappointed that the Board of Alders Education Committee released a letter on the Friday before the start of the school year that requested official citywide school inspections after documenting building concerns in the spring. Elicker said the alders sharing photos of the conditions of school buildings days before the start of the school served to scare families and sent “a misleading and false message that our schools are not safe.” “Is a child inhaling mold spores in a classroom scare tactics?” Ife-Waters asked on Friday. “Let me tell you what is scary, a child sitting in a classroom inhaling mold and getting sick,” she said. “We want to know right now today what will be the immediate action?” She also shared her own three demands that prompted her to organize the Friday rally: That no students and staff work from the third floor or other impacted areas until those classrooms have been inspected by health, fire, and industrial hygienists. That NHPS provide parents in writing by the end of the day a real-time cataloging of work orders, mold inspections, and a clear remediation timeline. That, if solutions are not possible now, then Hillhouse students should be bused to the old Katherine Brennan School in West Rock. For an hour and a half, the group walked through a few learning areas on Hillhouse’s three floors. While water continued to drip from the ceiling in classrooms B314 and B313, the group stood around desks and large trash bins collecting water to discuss the state of facilities. “This isn’t right at all,” Ife-Waters told school leaders. Sean Reeves asked those same school leaders if they would move their offices to Hillhouse’s third floor to work next to leaks and water buckets. “If you’re saying this is safe for the kids, let me see you move your office here. Would you be happy to work out of here every day?” he asked. Community organizer and Hillhouse alum Sun Queen pointed to missing ceiling tiles and bins full of yellowed water and said, “This is sending a message to our students, our babies, that they don’t matter.” Throughout the walkthrough, the group saw water-damaged floor and ceiling tiles, dust-filled vents, days-old bins of water collected from leaks, and a ceiling-tile water stain so bad it seemed to be growing mold. Whyte took note of the many concerns pointed out by the group to later input into the district’s work-order system. In a first-floor in school suspension (ISS) room, the group took photos of a ceiling tile seemingly growing mold after water damage and a small windowless room with dust-ridden vents. Sun Queen asked school leaders to imagine how the ISS room with walls coated in dust and a moldy ceiling tile would impact “our most vulnerable babies that you’re trying to get on the right course.” Whyte said he plans to get air testing for the ISS room after the group pointed out possible mold growths. Local organizer Kerry Ellington asked that simple issues like blinking light fixtures be addressed over the next day or so. “Some of these things are easy fixes,” she said. “Everything we’re seeing affects these students’ mental, social, and emotional” health, Ellington said. Rally organizer Nijija Ife-Waters: “It’s time for us as a community to get them out of office because its been too long with the same thing.” Supt. Madeline Negrón argues that the building is “operational” despite deficiencies. Ife-Waters questioned how Elicker and NHPS Supt. Madeline Negrón can say schools are safe when water leaks and air ducts full of dust are impacting the building’s air quality. Elicker said the school passed air-quality testing and is therefore safe. Hillhouse Principal Antoine Billy said next week there are plans to relocate some staff who are currently in leaking rooms to different spaces. In addition to the buildings conditions, community organizer Ala Ochumare-Harris pointed out that the trash bins collecting water make classrooms non-accessible for students who may use a wheelchair. Fair Haven Alder Frankie Redente, who also works at Fair Haven School, said areas in his building like the auditorium also have buckets collecting leaking water. Whyte also gave the group an update on the upcoming replacement of Hillhouse’s roof. He said over the weekend the roof will be assessed as a step in the process of preparing the roof replacement job for contractor bidding. Ochumare-Harris asked that the job not be given solely because a vendor is the lowest bidder but because a company does quality eco-friendly work. Alicia Watley, the mom of a Hillhouse freshman, told Elicker she finds it unfair the district prioritized huge upgrades for the Floyd Little Athletic Center — which gets utilized by schools beyond New Haven — rather than Hillhouse itself or other schools. Elicker responded that the district applied for state funding for the field house and several other school building upgrades but was only awarded the field house funds. That’s why the district decided to apply for grant funding for roof replacements through the state Department of Administrative Services, and as a result was awarded funds for new roofs at Hillhouse, Cross, and Truman School. Local contractor/community activist Rodney Williams raised concerns with one of the leaks in a third-floor classroom being close to electrical wires running through the ceiling. He also said that the HVAC system might not have proper insulation, which he said could cause condensation to build up — as group observed through several areas with removed ceiling tiles Friday. Williams added that the air ducts need to be cleaned to improve air quality. Upon entering the third floor, Ife-Waters said that “it smells like mold.” West Rock/West Hills Alder Honda Smith left Friday’s walkthrough early because she began feeling sick due to what she believed to be mold in the building. At the end of Friday’s walkthrough, Board of Alders Majority Leader Richard Furlow said his eye burned and he felt like his throat was closing after spending over an hour in those few areas of the building. Others reported leaving Hillhouse’s building after the walkthrough with headaches and feeling short of breath. When Watley began hearing about deferred building maintenance, she encouraged her freshman to take note of areas of Hillhouse’s building that looked neglected. What her child shared raised huge concerns for her and prompted her to join Friday’s action. Retired Hillhouse history teacher and librarian Robert Gibson also joined Friday’s discussion. He recalled being a student at Hillhouse and then an employee. He said the building has suffered from deferred maintenance for years. “I remember teaching with ceiling leaks and buckets,” he said. If these issues have been long known about for so long, he asked, why is the district wasting money on patch jobs instead of the full replacement that’s needed? He asked: “How was this known but we still went ahead and started this school year in the same place as last year?” Elicker responded that the roof replacement costs around $8 million for Hillhouse, and that patching holes is a quicker short-term fix as the city and the district line up that larger work. At the conclusion of the walkthrough, Whyte explained that the roof would be patched in areas this weekend. He said that replacing ceiling tiles around the building would be an ongoing job. He also said he would add brand new work orders to the system for other unsatisfactory conditions pointed out Friday. Ife-Waters concluded, “It’s time for us as a community to get them out of office because its been too long with the same thing.” Sun Queen added that the community must now continue to show up and follow up with the district and mayor to be sure the district is held accountable for the safety of students and staff. “Our babies have to use their brain inside there. Who can do that in those type of conditions?” Ellington said she hopes to see the mayor and school district respond soon with a public document of work timelines and other follow up, or else “we need leadership change.” Former Hillhouse staffer Robert Gibson: Why do we keep waiting to fix the problems? Hillhouse parent Alicia Watley. Inside the school security office … … the community finds a trash can full of leaked water… …and water-damaged floors. In the ISS room. A vent in a Hillhouse hallway. The post “This Isn’t Right At All”: Hillhouse Walkthrough Spotlights Ceiling Leaks, Water Damage appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less