Students, teachers describe conditions at aging building
Several Uniontown Area High School students are joining the fight to push for renovations of the school after saying its poor conditions cause them to focus less on their education. One of those leading the fight is Jason Turner, a student representative to the school board, who has cerebral palsy. Turner said that distance between classes is particularly bothersome, noting he rides an elevator to the building’s bottom floor before ascending to his upper floor classes.
His brother, Jared Turner, and another student, Page Festa, agreed that major renovations are needed.
“When you come to school, you don’t want to focus on what the classroom looks like,” said Jared Turner. “You want to focus on your education.”
Festa said there are some days she doesn’t feel like coming to school because conditions are so bad.
Approximately 1,200 students attend the school located on East Fayette Street.
The board’s plans to renovate the high school have been met with bitter protests from some residents, who contend the work would be too costly.
Though connected, the 208,000-square-foot building was built in three separate parts throughout the years: a nearly 100-year-old 1910-11 section, the most noticeable outside feature of which is a curved entryway staircase; the 1954 gymnasium portion; and the 1980 section housing the pool.
The students said they have to carry a 35-pound backpack and are often late for classes because of the travel time.
At one far end of the building is the pool.
Members of the school’s swim team agreed that the building needs repaired. They said the pool area is full of major safety hazards.
In addition to the room’s already slick floor conditions, the students pointed to cracks in the bleachers and flipped up blue mats to show visible rust on the floor in spaces where a high-dive board was removed.
They said humidity and moisture have caused triangular tiles to crash and fall from the tops of the steep pool room walls, although not injuring any students.
The students had complaints about the girls’ locker room, which is accessed via the pool area. Above all, they said, the room is too cold to change clothes inside.
“The floor is freezing,” said senior Anna Girod.
“We all get sick from the mold and the cold,” said junior Jessica Dzara.
“I’m stuffed up all the time,” added senior Larisa Klingensmith.
“We need a new school and, when you do get it, it needs to be taken care of,” said Dzara.
Custodian John Santer said the pool area has deteriorated over the 18 years he has maintained it because of heat emitted from the pool and basic wear and tear. An adequate ventilation system is needed, he said.
Students also complained of toilets overflowing in the bathroom, wobbly desk chairs, fountains that do not work, water stains on the ceiling, wires hanging from open ceiling tiles, peeling step runners and lack of outside light in classrooms.
Teachers also have their share of concerns.
Computer teacher Rian Davis said more computers are needed in the two first-floor labs.
“We can’t add more computers. We’ve reached our limit,” he said, reporting times when power was zapped to the computers after an upstairs water fountain kicked on. He said computers have overheated and sometimes had to be turned off to run fewer machines.
District Technology Coordinator Todd Hamel said there is a need for sufficient power, though the high school is operating with the power supply it has available now.
“There’s only so much power in the building. We can’t make more or get more,” said Hamel.
Hamel said he is worried about the school’s future. He said the school faces the challenge to train students to operate and understand constant changes in technology.
“We’ve gone about as far as we can go,” said Hamel. “We’ve already bumped the glass ceiling.”
Reading teacher Vicki Bortz’s third-floor classroom was the site of a falling ceiling tile incident. The tile struck and injured the student who sat beneath the falling debris.
Bortz recalled the incident, which occurred at the end of October. “All of us were shocked,” she said. Excitement from students over the incident has died down and the tile has since been repaired, said Bortz.
Next door, English teacher Rebecca Ritenour said too small of a classroom space prevents her from doing group activities with students. She said she shares the space with two other teachers.
Ritenour also pointed to an overhead projector that doesn’t work and a crack running alongside a window where, she said, rain blows in.
Ritenour said the problems are frustrating to her because of her commitment to the students.
“I’m here for the kids. They are why I do what I do,” she said.