No Building Left Behind: County Schools Struggle To Update Facilities

Elizabeth Bailey

When the South Decatur Schools were constructed 40 years ago, the designers did not need to consider computer labs, special education or dual credit courses. There was no reason to consider sensory rooms for the elementary school or living skills classrooms at the high school. Lab space could be shared because the number of students was small.

None of these things remain the case.

In the past, Decatur County Community Schools has attempted a bond issue to renovate both North and South. However, the project was not one the community felt it could support at the time. With a few more years and much more study, renovation remains on the horizon for the schools.

In the meantime, however, Don Lewellyn, who handles maintenance, continues to struggle against aging equipment and systems in the buildings. At both North and South, the elementary school boilers were replaced and parts from the old units were scavenged to repair the remaining 40-year-old boilers at the high schools. At South, a locker bay in the varsity locker room was removed to make space for coaches to meet with their teams, and its parts were reused to maintain the remaining lockers. The process requires creative thinking on the part of Lewellyn and the corporation as a whole. While this has proven to be a cost-effective way to do business, there is a limit to how far creative and temporary fixes can carry the educational lives of the schools.

At both North and South, the drainage of the kitchen has begun to show its age. Although new equipment has been sparingly purchased over the years, the guts of the kitchen have remained, including cast-iron pipes.

As the pipes under the kitchen age, leaks become a challenge. Because the architects were aiming for a single sewage hook-on, the drainage from the kitchen runs through pipes that cross the entire schools, picking up the other wastewater along the way. This means that replacing the ailing pipes would require tearing up large spans of flooring throughout the buildings.

The cafeteria also doubles for an auditorium, but the space is not large enough for the student body to gather there as a whole. Regardless the challenges, Superintendent Dr. Dan Roach noted, the school works hard to produce quality events.

Still, as students and staff enter and exit the South Decatur High School cafeteria, one of the parts of the door frame is simply missing, leaving a two-inch gap between two of the doors.

“We have so much pride in our schools,” Roach noted, “but our facilities fall short.”

For Project Lead the Way, South received funding for computers for each member of the inaugural class. However, the school did not have the necessary space for any more than six computers for the 19 members of the class.

“The class is fantastic at both schools,” Roach said. “We have dedicated teachers but not enough space.”

The same is true in the sciences as a whole. Graduation requirements have pushed students to take more science courses, increasing the number of pupils in science courses beyond the intended capacity of the labs. Roach noted there is not adequate space for instructors to stage the next period’s experiments, and small passageways between labs pose a challenge.

The restrooms at the south end of South Decatur High School are currently not usable, causing students to need to travel across the building in order to use the facilities. Radiators in one of the classrooms had been leaking into the walls and floor for some time, necessitating the replacement of portions of the flooring and removing any predictability from heating and cooling of the space.

At South Elementary, the office is limited by having only one exit route, a problem Roach would like to solve during any renovations. The young students have the opportunity to use computers, but the machines are outdated, which would make it impossible to complete online computerized testing on site.

Since the school incorporated the physical education portion of Sandcreek School, portions of the building date back to 1955, before the needs of computers were a concern. Now, computers in the building produce too much heat for the systems to dissipate and wiring does not allow for large numbers of them to be functioning at the same time.

With many concerns about aging systems in the school, including concerns about remaining asbestos insulation, Roach knows a building project could be extensive. However, changing times and educational needs necessitate changes that cannot be made in simple, creative fixes during the school-year. An overhaul is due.

Roach noted, however, that the goal for school renovation is not to duplicate everything between North and South but rather to maximize the use of specialized facilities by sharing resources between the schools.

Plans are currently underway to enable students to travel between North and South for the different Project Lead the Way courses, and this will be the beginning of shuttle plans that may expand over the years to meet students’ needs.

Roach and Lewellyn hope that current economic conditions and materials costs could make a building project quite cost effective. Roach noted the corporation’s architect has seen many similar projects come in 20-to-30 percent below projections. Although on the surface, an economic downturn may not seem like good timing for bold moves, it may prove to be a good time for the county schools and, by extension, area construction companies in need of work.

Text Only