Cold exposes cracks in upkeep of timeworn schools

BALTIMORE — The recent spell of cold weather exposed the poor state of school buildings in many big-city districts, including Baltimore, where the failure of heating systems closed dozens of institutions after children were left shivering in frigid classrooms.

Schools were challenged in other cities affected by the cold snap, including Philadelphia and Bridgeport, Connecticut’s largest city, as pipes burst, heating units froze and other pieces of decades-old infrastructure gave out under the strain of record-breaking cold.

It’s no wonder; investment in school construction and maintenance has been falling steadily since the recession, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.

Experts who have been sounding alarms about the state of many public school buildings say the problems that struck last week are a direct result of years of inadequate funding for basic upkeep. The need is especially great in urban centers where older buildings serve poorer children and maintenance is often put off until it becomes an exponentially more costly emergency repair, said Mary Filardo, executive director of the nonprofit 21st Century School Fund, which advocates for better facilities.

“The systems are vulnerable because they’re old and they’re well beyond their useful life, and so they fail,” Filardo said.

In Baltimore, six schools were still closed early this week, down from 60 at the height of the district’s heating crisis. Images circulated on social media last week of Baltimore students bundled up in winter jackets in their classrooms and rubbing their hands together for warmth.

At Lakewood Elementary School, a 1960s-era building in an East Baltimore neighborhood marred by derelict row homes, children were sent back home after pipes burst just as buses began dropping youngsters off. The school reopened for classes the next day.

As Sasha Harmon, 29, picked up her son at the school, she expressed outrage that more has not been done to stop the deterioration of the city’s schools.

“This problem is not new. I remember being a little kid and wearing my winter jacket in class because the heating was screwed up,” Harmon said. “Baltimore needs to do a lot better for our children. It is ridiculous things like this just keep happening.”