Jefferson Elementary has seen many issues from raw sewage in hallways, asbestos and no AC. Why haven't they been addressed?

In the last few years, raw sewage has leaked into the hallway. 

“The main part of the building has not had any renovation done to it, such as electrical, mechanical, plumbing, heat and air, those type things,” Director of Jefferson County Schools Tommy Arnold said. “The doors, the windows, the electrical system has its issues on a daily basis.”

It has become routine for teachers like Leslie Vines to make adjustments to their job every single day, like sending notes home to parents to dress their children in layers, especially in the winter if the boiler is on the fritz.

“It's not the age of the school, it's just the fact that it has not been maintained over time,” Vines said. “And because of that, we're kind of suffering all the consequences.”

When she walks into her classroom, she has to check the 66-year-old windows to see if they blew open overnight. 

“We know not to put anything of value close to the windows,” she said. “Our administrators, we let them know, and they say, ‘All right, put in a maintenance request.' And we do that, and then they do what they can with what they're given.”

As Principal Craig Day sits at his computer, it takes a while for all of the computerized maintenance requests to load. He counts 409 over the last two and a half years.

“I had 35 just myself, just from things that I saw needed to happen,” Day said. “So that's at least a couple 100 in the building this year from everyone, all included.”

However, these issues are about more than inconveniences. The school has several safety flaws that have been evaluated by professional companies hired by the district to make assessments.

“Jefferson Elementary School, in the area of emergency preparedness, is at the most need in the district, in the area of physical plant, we're at the most need in the district,” the principal said.

One of the most glaring issues is a lack of sprinkler systems throughout the building. A regular fire drill becomes an ordeal for teachers and students, as they have to practice climbing out the classroom window.

“We've always been told if we have a student that may have special needs that we need to physically pick them up and we carry them out the window,” Vines said. “I'm not sure how if I had a fifth-grade student that might weigh more than me.”

Vines said she’s not sure how a student in a wheelchair would be able to safely escape the building. In addition, many of the bathrooms are not wheelchair or ADA-accessible. Some of them have been fixed, however, school maintenance teams run into issues with old plumbing and wiring.

Renovations or a new school for Jefferson Elementary have come up in conversation with the county commission for the past decade.

“You're looking at at least 20 plus million dollars to be able to do an adequate renovation, and that's probably not touching everything that would need to be touched,” Arnold said. “We feel like this is definitely close to 80% of what a new school would cost because of renovation needs.”

Arnold also mentioned a renovation to the school would not change the fact that the classrooms in Jefferson Elementary are about 150 square feet smaller than other classrooms in the district.

Over the past 10 years, the debate of a new building for Jefferson Elementary or renovations has come up in the county commission three times. 

“There's nobody on the school board or on county commission that doesn't think that something needs to happen with this school, but it's just about funding,” Arnold said.  “It's about trying to not burden our taxpayers too much in this county.”

It's been struck down by a group of 12 out of 21 commissioners in the county. Most recently, in 2021. 

Jefferson County Board of Education Chairman Bradley Randall did speak to WBIR on the phone, but we were unable to coordinate an in-person interview with the deadline of the story. 

Randall said in recent memory, the JCBOE voted on a needs assessment for all schools across the district twice and have brought a motion to the county commission for funds for a new school twice which has not been approved. 

According to a needs assessment completed in 2019, Randall said Jefferson Elementary was number one on the list, with Piedmont Elementary at number two for buildings with the most need.

Randall said in 2020 JCBOE created a motion to build a new school for Jefferson Elementary. A contractor, Lewis Group, estimated that the cost was almost $20 million. 

In 2020, Federal COVID money for schools, also called ESSER funding, was given to school districts, however, schools could not use it for new construction. Some of that funding was utilized for a renovation to Piedmont Elementary. 

In 2021, JCBOE decided to update the first plan to build the school, this time adding four more classrooms to accommodate for growth. Randall said that estimate was $26.5 million. 

The county commission voted to revisit the idea of a new school in 2021, there were discussions for new school construction on the Jefferson County Fairgrounds. 

Randall said no money has been granted from the county commission so far for Jefferson Elementary to get a new building. However, a list of needs was passed in a motion for the school board. 

Randall says that motion still stands, however, no construction can occur until the commission approves those funds.

WBIR reached out to nine county commissioners, some of them did not respond to the inquiry. Others spoke with WBIR on the phone but did not want to appear on camera.

The following document, sent from County Commissioner Greg Byrd, is a list of needs for Jefferson Elementary that was presented at the annual county commission retreat in August of 2023. No further decisions on funding have been made. 

One commissioner expressed interest in revisiting the conversation about Jefferson Elementary when a new school board reconvenes in September.

Commissioners questioned how the school board would spend appropriated funds and questioned the rising costs of the school construction. 

One commissioner said students could be redistributed to Patriot Academy for a period of time to renovate the existing building.

After speaking to commissioners with varying opinions on what the solution is for the 500 students and dozens of staff at the school the JCBOE declared was in the most need, all agreed some change needed to happen. 

School board members argue a renovation will not fix smaller classroom sizes that are inequitable to other elementary schools in the district. 

But until both county commission approves the money, and the school board decides how specifically to spend it, whether that's a renovation or building and entirely new school, no changes will be made to the learning environment at this 66-year-old school.