No heat at Huey?
Complete coverage of the Philadelphia School District by the Philadelphia Inquirer's Kristen Graham.
No heat at Huey?
Kristen Graham
For about two weeks, the heat was out in much of Samuel B. Huey Elementary School in West Philadelphia, a teacher told me. As of Monday, it still wasn't operational in the gym, cafeteria, and many classrooms.
With temperatures hovering around the freezing mark, “you can see your breath in the air,” said the teacher, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal.
On Tuesday morning, after a reporter's call to the Philadelphia School District, it was finally fixed.
Chanice Savage, a spokeswoman for the district, said that the work was completed Tuesday morning, but that the principal reported that at no time was classroom heat non-operational.
Sometimes the heat didn't work in the gym and sometimes it didn't work in the cafeteria, but if the cafeteria was cold, students ate in their classrooms, and if the gym was cold, they took health class, also in their classrooms, Savage said.
The teacher disputed those claims: classrooms were frigid, and kids sometimes reported to gym class wearing coats, the teacher said.
Students in the teacher's classroom were bundled up in every layer they could find, often shivering, hands often stuck in their jackets to keep warm, according to the teacher.
When parents called the principal to ask about heating problems, “the answer was, ‘We’re working on it,’” the teacher said.
The heat was always on in the office, the teacher said, and the first floor hallways seemed to always have some warmth, but elsewhere, it was freezing.
“I have one little girl who was really upset and said, ‘My house is cold, and I come here and it should be warm,’” the teacher said.
Many of the district's buildings are old and in need of repair. Teachers and staff at University City High School have reported myriad problems in that school, where parts of the building are cold and wet from standing water, for instance. The heat at that school is balky at best, occupants report.
More time and effort will be spent trying to identify the teacher who dared to speak to the media, than time and effort used to resolve the underlying systems that cause these physical problems. Cause: lack of sufficient maintenance and properly scheduled replacement and reconstruction. You can't run a capital plant on politics. Physical work has to be done.— Sherwood Forest- who's surprised— AlexSp
- With the many different unions, there was probably confusion as to whose job it was to fix the heat, along with the fact that the union members probably have 6 weeks paid vacation and 20 sick days in the 180 day school year.— FletcherT
- Why are you such a hater?! Unions make life better for everyone. You sound like a kid on the playground who is taking his ball home because he didn't get picked to play! Stop the hate! We should all want a better situation for everyone!!! — Oh Mr. Wilson
- close 'em!— pointguard
- Wouldn't it be better to just....fix the heat? There are scores of people trying to eliminate public education for scores of reasons. First, fix the heat. None of our children should be cold in school.— BigDipper
- Maybe the heat wasn't fixed because those in charge had a bad case of brain freeze. — cadet
The School District is falling apart and Hite give 25 administrative staffers sizable raises that is strictly optional and not bound by any union contracts. These are non union staffers. There is one who is barely more than a high school graduate. Corruption abounds. Meanwhile, our student body freezes. How well can you learn with a frosty breath of air blocking your view of the blackboard?— DarnelX- This is what many YOkels don't understand. Upper level management sucks up most of the salary money in the city, NOT union workers.
I remember winter conditions like this at the old WPHS ten years ago -- 1/2 the building was 90 degrees and the other 1/2 freezing. Are there really people on this forum that think American kids deserve to go to schools like these? You better check yourselve... This teacher cares about the students and, yes, will probably be punished for it.
phunnyphilly.wordpress.com— InNane - The School District is falling apart and Hite give 25 administrative staffers sizable raises that is strictly optional and not bound by any union contracts. These are non union staffers. There is one who is barely more than a high school graduate. Corruption abounds. Meanwhile, our student body freezes. How well can you learn with a frosty breath of air blocking your view of the blackboard?— DarnelX
- Hite makes Blight.— cgraham
- The teacher took action which caused the heat to be restored. All administrators now realize this will happen if they don't do their jobs. They have no power of retaliation if the informer remains anonymous.— prenestino
- HOW DOES A GOVERNMENT THAT CAN'T EVEN FIX THE HEAT BE EXPECTED TO EDUCATE YOUR KIDS? Get rid of the bums that run things!
Start cleaning up the city from the crooked politicians and start by having the DA enforce the law, INDICT councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown for her crimes. WWW.RECALLBLONDELLREYNOLDSBROWN.OEG (HTML deleted)
— SPENDSPEND— SPENDSPEND - Over $300,000 in raises for 25 non union employees, but no heat in schools...??? Nice...— Shumee3
- In Hite's new order, the School District doesn't have to supply the lazy teachers with heat!— Oh Mr. Wilson
During the school year, you’ll frequently find her hosting live chats about the district on Philly.com. Please do pass along the scoop about what’s going on at your Philadelphia public school; Kristen welcomes tips, story ideas and witty banter at kgraham@phillynews.com or 215-854-5146.
You can also follow Kristen on Twitter here.
