Silverton’s children deserve better
Silverton is an extremely proud community.
Silvertonians love to talk about living here, love to talk about growing up here and love to explain to others all of the great things about this area.
I’ve been living in Silverton for about six years and the one thing I’ve learned above anything else – people love this town.
When I tell outsiders that I live here, their eyes light up. ‘Silverton is great. I drove through on the way to Silver Falls to go hiking. What a cool little town.’
When talking about any community, eventually the conversation usually turns to its schools and education.
And one topic being discussed is ‘What do you think about what’s going on at Eugene Field Elementary?’
At this topic we don’t get to be so proud. Our eyes lose their glimmer and our shoulders slump.
‘What’s going on at Eugene Field Elementary’ is simply this – it is inadequate, inefficient and (most importantly) very, very unsafe. When it comes to educating our children, any one of these issues should be cause for concern.
Eugene Field Elementary has to contend with all three.
The building itself is lovely. Nobody can argue that. It was built in 1921, has some magnificent architectural charm and is located smack dab in the middle of downtown Silverton.
What lies beneath that charming facade is also something that cannot be argued.
The plumbing system is woefully outdated.
There is inadequate pressure to wash your hands when somebody flushes a toilet next to you.
The electrical system is dangerous. Extension cords run all over the school because of the lack of outlets.
Fuses are blown regularly on an electrical system that is more suited for the 1950s, not 2014.
The school is surrounded immediately on all sides by some of the busiest roads in town, one of which is a main highway linking Silverton to the Portland area.
There is very little parking and a very minimal playground area.
There are layers and layers of lead paint on the fixtures.
Then there is the air quality, oh the air quality.
It is well documented that many staff and students at Eugene Field continually suffer from respiratory and sinus infections.
From their school. Let that sink in a little bit.
In the year 2014, our children are going to school and getting sick from the actual building itself.
One way of minimizing the air quality problem is quite simple.
They just open up the windows – year-round – to get fresh air into the classrooms.
Kids sitting nearest the windows are forced to wear their coats because it tends to get pretty chilly in the winter in their classroom.
One time, a classroom was forced to evacuate when the fumes from an idling truck just outside filled a classroom making children ill.
There are also seismic considerations.
Buildings constructed in 1921 were not built to withstand earthquakes of any size, let alone an earthquake the size that is expected to hit our region in the not-so-distant future.
I hope to be nowhere near a century-old building if and when this happens.
I most definitely do not want to see a school full of our community’s children in one.
These are not the types of problems that get fixed with a few improvements and upgrades.
In fact, parts of the building itself have already been condemned. Fifty years ago.
Yet our children still go to school every day because the community cannot decide on what to do about this problem.
There is only one absolute solution – get the students out of this building.
Full disclosure, I am a parent of a young child that will be going to elementary school in a few short years.
I have a vested interest in this.
But there are also around 9,000 residents that live in this town and if you walk down the street and ask anybody who lives here, I’d be willing to bet that they have a child, a grandchild, a nephew or niece or a friend that also have an interest in this.
It’s what being part of a community is all about.
Our children’s education and safety are not things that can be short-changed for the sake of nostalgia.
I get it, old buildings are cool.
But they are not a place to educate our children. Silverton – it’s time to put our money where our mouth is.
We love this town. It’s time to take care of a huge black cloud that hangs over all of us.
Andy Diacetis
Silverton
Building impairs learning
I am writing as a parent of four children, two of them attend Eugene Field Elementary School in Silverton. I am writing to express my concerns on their safety and well being at that school.
There have been past bonds for getting students out of the school that have not passed. Why? I will tell you why – because either the voters were not educated on the severity of how dangerous the school is, they were misinformed by mass emails and letters sent out, or they just didn’t want their property taxes increased. How can we put a price tag on the safety of children, who are only in that unsafe building to get an education; an education they deserve. The same education their peers get in other towns and cities in a much better environment. Would you live in these conditions that the 450 students who attend this school have to put up with? Would you choose to work in a building like Eugene Field if you had the option? The answer is probably no, so why do we let young children be put in this dangerous environment five days a week?
Let me tell you a little about the conditions:
The electrical system is outdated, dangerous and in some situations against the law. There are only two outlets per classroom, cables running all over the floors and up the walls, causing injuries and accidents. Fuses are blown frequently due the electrical circuits that cannot support the technology we have in the building. The nurses’ office is powered by an extension cord through the window. The plumbing is outdated and causing an unhealthy environment. There are only two sets of restrooms for 450 students. Water often runs a rusty color. Water pressure in the whole building is such that if you flush more than one toilet at a time, the waste won’t completely go down, and there isn’t enough water to wash your hands. Health and hygiene are effected, which causes absences from sick kids.
The heating in the building is sporadic, but windows must always remain open. Classrooms are often so cold children must wear coats and can see their breathes. Having windows open allows allergens in, and carbon monoxide from the streets. Classrooms can go from extremely hot to extremely cold in one day. Radiators get VERY hot to touch, to the point of burning if touched.
This is just the beginning of a long list of problems:
Lead based paint.
Leaking ceilings and floors when it rains.
No parking. The school is located in a dangerous location between two busy streets.
Not enough space to house all the students.
Not enough security.
Not seismic safe.
These issues are just the tip of the iceberg; there are many more issues at hand! These combined deficiencies impair the quality of teaching and learning and contribute to health and safety problems for staff and students. Better conditions will help with teacher motivation and student achievement.
Our children deserve the best education available in a safe environment. We have an opportunity to see this provided and at the same time we will be rejuvenating our community by attracting new business and industries when we pass a bond for a new school. Continuing to put a Band-Aid on these problems is not a remedy. Let’s make sure the kids in our district know that the citizens of this community care about them and their education. We understand that an additional tax will be a sacrifice; however, we would ask that you make that investment in order to improve not only the educational environment for the children, but the economic development of Silverton. After all, they go hand-in-hand. The majority of us in support of a bond are homeowners, our taxes will increase too, but we are OK with it because our children’s safety is worth every cent and more!
There have been proposals of remodeling the current school to preserve the history of the building and save costs, but many will argue that won’t help with many of the problems, such as the fact that the school is in a dangerous location. Once again this is only putting a Band-Aid on it. Please don’t listen to them until you have heard all the facts. I encourage all Silverton residents to get educated, and visit the school. I also encourage you to get involved in helping us to spread the word. Join our Facebook page at Facebook or watch the video the teachers presented to the board.
Public education is key to the economic prosperity of our community. Responsible investment in public school buildings pays three times: once for skilled jobs in local communities; a second time in the quality that healthy, safe, and educationally appropriate buildings create for students and their teachers; and finally, a third time in the benefits that quality education will reap for generations to come.
Amy Uitto
Silverton
Sell Eugene Field
My opinion is that we sell Eugene Field, add another mod to Robert Frost (as it was originally intended) and make it a K-5, add to Mark Twain to make it a 6-8, and add on to outlying schools as needed to make them all straight grades (or 2 of each grade at Butte Creek). School boundaries can be updated to accommodate. This would be mutually beneficial to kids in town and those out of town.
I recently attended a district forum where a concern was about getting all schools on the same page and having more of a sense of community within the district. A scenario like this would go a long way in achieving this, and would be cost-effective for the long term.
Courtney Goode
Silverton
