POWELL, Tenn. — Moms like Powell Elementary School PTA president Allison Malone said issues with air conditioning, mold concerns and the struggles of learning in a temporary classroom have raised an alarm for teachers and parents.
"We started this year off with our first-grade and second-grade portables up to 88 degrees," Malone said. "All of us as parents should really be able to send our children to school in a climate-controlled environment and be under one school building."
Powell Elementary School has 850 students, according to Knox County Schools. Its website said 12 portable classrooms have been added to the school campus since 1988.
"We have a second-grade portable that the floor has actually caved in," Malone said. "It too has not been fixed properly. There's been a lot of band-aids done.
In a statement, KCS listed seven portable classrooms, with the most recent addition from 2017 and the oldest installed before 1995. Malone said there have been concerns about mold in the portable classrooms.
"Mold comes from leaks in the ceilings," she said. "Leaks turn into big water issues that can be patched up, but it's not truly ever fixed. That is where the mold can happen."
The school district said the problem has been fixed.
"We did receive a recent report of a concern regarding possible mold," said Carly Harrington, its chief communications officer. "When a maintenance crew went out and investigated at the beginning of the school year, the air vents appeared to be aged and dirty, and were replaced."
Another concern Malone raised was about accessibility for students with disabilities. She said she had heard stories where parents and students needed to go to an alternative school because of a lack of accessibility options.
In a statement, the school district said it has older schools across the district that are not fully accessible, and it provides students with disabilities transportation to other schools to meet their needs.
"This has not been necessary at Powell Elementary for at least three years," Harrington said.
Powell Elementary School is in the county's Seventh District. The school district's representative, Steve Triplett, said he's aware of the issues and said it's been an ongoing conversation with the board and district leaders.
"It's not a conversation we're just now starting to have, It's a conversation we've been having," Triplett said. "Really the issue currently is funding. All capital improvements are funded by Knox County. There is a debt services fund and we use the funds in that to build additions to and upgrade the buildings we currently have."
He also said there is no money currently set aside for Powell Elementary School and no concrete plans to move students out of temporary classroom buildings.
"There is not an immediate solution," Triplett said. "The solutions we have related to maintenance, we've taken care of those as far as air conditioning, that kind of thing."
Triplett said he hopes more attention to the issue will lead to a solution.
"I appreciate the parents from the PTA reaching out. I appreciate the emails I've gotten, I appreciate them raising a voice and an awareness," he said.
Rhonda Lee, who represents Powell on the Knox County Commission, also said she wants a solution and provided the following statement.
"I am very concerned about the poor conditions at Powell Elementary. I have a granddaughter who attends there. These are issues that need addressed immediately and I would urge the school board to take action immediately. Our children should not have to attend a school in an unsafe environment. These problems have existed and there have been no steps to correct them. Our children deserve a new school and it is time we stop making excuses. I understand there are budget constraints but Powell Elementary needs to be a priority."