Op-Ed: Mountain View Parents Ask for New School

The following letter was submitted to Patch by "The Concerned Parents of Mountain View Elementary School," who have been lobbying the Cobb Board of Education for a new school building. They recently began a "Rebuild Mountain View" campaign and have been speaking out at school board public comment sessions.

At the bottom of the letter is a link to a video taken inside the school, which parents say is infested with mold and other signs of decay and which experiences standing water from rain that comes through leaks in ceilings.

Last week, school board member David Banks, who represents the school district, publicly advocated a rebuild of Mountain View with Cobb Education SPLOST IV funding. The school board is not expected to decide on the two replacement elementary schools until early next year.

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School is where children go to learn, not just their ABCs, arithmetic and reading, but also life skills such as working independently, time management, accountability, respect, and peer interaction. When parents send their children to school, they expect that their children are in a safe and healthy environment, and the parents at Mountain View Elementary School (MVES) are no exception.  

While the teachers and administration of MVES are succeeding in providing a great education to their students, the school’s buildings are failing to provide a healthy and safe learning environment for these young children. Mountain View Elementary School was founded in northeast Cobb County in 1928, and is the second oldest school in the Cobb County School District.

Mountain View Elementary parents showed up by the dozens at the September 26, 2013, Cobb County School Board meeting. They were a strong presence in the room, wearing their gold shirts with the slogan “Our School Is Gold Our Building Is Old, Rebuild Mountain View.” They shared their concerns and personal stories regarding school issues, with the Board. In their campaign for rebuild, parents at MVES have honed in on three main areas of concern: health, safety, and transportation.

Health: Independent environmental testing conducted at MVES by GLE Facilities and Environmental Consultants, indicates poor air quality at Mountain View. Readings indicate at least 17 locations, including the cafeteria, have levels of carbon dioxide that are above recommended limits. The temperature and relative humidity levels in eight hallways and two classrooms are above published guidelines. In addition, there are four additional classrooms and two breezeways that are infected with significantly greater mold spore concentrations than average. Children and teachers have been reporting health-related concerns, including those who are allergic to molds having respiratory and increased asthma problems.

Politicians may say a new HVAC system may solve the problem, but parents are concerned that this is simply another Band-Aid, and not a sustainable solution. These issues at Mountain View have been documented as on-going, and attempts at remediation have been conducted for years. One particular classroom has been treated at least twice, and yet, in the recent environmental report, it still has elevated levels of mold spores. The gymnasium wall has been repaired numerous times, but it still floods. Clearly, repetitive remediation is not the solution.

When is the county going to use its tax payers dollars efficiently and implement long-term solutions rather than, quick fixes that only kick the can further down the road? We hold our children accountable, and we need to hold policy makers accountable for their decisions too.

Safety: Almost the entire Mountain View main building perimeter walls have moisture readings above 30%. During significant rain events, Mountain View classrooms, breezeways, and the gymnasium wall flood. Mountain View students are exposed to harm when they travel between buildings - their proximity to waste and delivery trucks is undoubtedly asking for a tragedy. In order not to disturb instructional time, students headed to the cafeteria, or specials, or the Target program have to travel outside the buildings through the school parking lot. During this time, they are not inside the perimeter of our new buzz-in safety system. It’s shocking that the county seems okay with putting its students in such a vulnerable situation and almost welcomes unwanted danger. No one wants to bring up Newtown, but concerned parents can’t help see how vulnerable their children are as they parade across the parking lot dodging delivery trucks, buses and cars.

Transportation: Numerous parking issues exist at MVES due to the small parking area. Once the staff arrives there are very, very few parking spaces for visitors and parents. Most families have to park at the Kroger Shopping Center and walk across Sandy Plains when there is any event at the school. Bus and car traffic share the same entrance/exit drive.  The car rider cue line is very short, causing the morning and afternoon car rider pick-up lines to frequently back up onto Sandy Plains Road.  Dumpster and food delivery trucks enter through the small car rider line during arrival/dismissal of students for deliveries, which causes a large back up of traffic on Sandy Plains Road as well as creating a dangerous situation for the students and families.

What can be done? The Cobb County School Board allocates funds on an annual basis. Funds come from various funding vehicles including: ED-SPLOST and federal and state grants. ED-SPLOST funds are allocated every 4 yrs. SPLOST is a 1% sales tax on retail goods. Revenues from the SPLOST tax must be used for specific capital improvement projects at local schools. There are not enough funds from the property taxes that are generated to fix the issues with the schools. Of the property tax revenue collected, 90% goes to pay the salaries & benefits of teachers, administrators, bus drivers, food service employees, custodians, and other staff. The remaining 10% goes towards daily operating expenses such as utilities (fuel, water, gas, electricity), and supplies and textbooks. State funding and local property taxes do not provide for building maintenance. MVES is not a Title I school, so we are not eligible for federal grants. Our only source of funding is ED-SPLOST, but the project has to be listed in the ED-SPLOST notebook in order for it to be completed.

It’s important to note that there are many schools in Cobb County that are in need of rebuild or extensive maintenance repairs similar to Mountain View Elementary. The initial thought for ED-SPLOST IV was that three unnamed elementary schools would be rebuilt. However, when the rebuild of Walton High School tripled from $13M to $39M, the ED-SPLOST IV notebook went from three elementary school rebuilds to two elementary schools. While many schools could be recognized as rebuilds, only two will be selected. It’s unfortunate the schools are being pitted against one another, since several have needs that can’t be fixed with the few funds allocated in the ED-SPLOST IV notebook. 

When you consider what’s most important, it seems obvious that children should be afforded the basics when they go to school: things like a safe building, healthy air quality, temperature that is conducive to learning, a mold and mildew free school, walkways that don’t expose children and staff to dangers such as oncoming cars, supply trucks and non approved individuals on campus… the list goes on. While some schools have the luxury of deciding whether or not there will be iPads in the classroom, Mountain View is fighting for a school that doesn’t expose its children to high levels of carbon dioxide, mold and mildew, and unnecessary dangers.  

It’s no wonder that parents of Mountain View Elementary School are respectfully asking their School Board to work together and vote favorably to rebuild their school. It’s the right thing to do given the school’s condition.  These parents aren’t asking for a new stadium or auditorium, they simply want a school building that promotes a healthy and safe learning environment where their children can go to learn. 

MVES video footage of problem areas:

http://www.tinyb.it/523731138063F