Dozens of Page High School families attended a recent Guilford County Board of Education meeting to raise awareness about the poor conditions of their facilities.
Cameron Cooper, the student body president, said the unreliable heating and air conditioning in his classrooms pose constant challenges.
“Some rooms are so cold that it feels like an igloo, while others feel like saunas, and when the air conditioning does work, it rattles and bangs, making it nearly impossible to concentrate," Cooper said. "We have missed numerous school days because of this issue, and it serves as a reminder that our learning environment isn't a priority.”
Cooper also mentioned problems with the auditorium, cafeteria, locker rooms and more. Adam Duggins, a Page High School graduate and parent, put it this way:
“The recent facility challenges highlight a campus that, simply put, is obsolete," Duggins said. "It's obsolete, it's embarrassing.”
The district created a $2 billion facilities master plan in 2019, with a list of 51 projects for Phase 1 prioritized based on the needs of each school. Rebuilding Page ranked 34th.
A spokesperson for the district says post-COVID inflation has drastically reduced the number of projects that can be completed with the amount of money they have. Now, it’s looking like only a little over 20 of them will actually happen.
Several school board members, like Alan Sherouse, said the district needs to work on advocating for more money, but also potentially making changes to the master plan.
“There's a lot of good work that went into that, but I do increasingly think that we need to open ourselves up to evaluating that study, and what has changed since then," Sherouse said.
The district does have a few projects in the works at Page currently, including renovating the auditorium, installing a new roof in the media center and purchasing HVAC units for both of those spaces.
Amy Diaz covers education for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.