Lakewood asks voters to replace elementary school

HEBRON — It doesn’t matter how many times Amy McCartney repaints the lockers or sticks posters on the walls of her classroom at Hebron Elementary School. When it gets hot, the paint will just peel and the posters will fall again.

And with no central air conditioning in the 105-yearold elementary school, McCartney doesn’t expect that to change any time soon.

“It’s just a really old building,” said McCartney, a first-grade teacher. “It’s not just air conditioning though. It’s lighting, it’s space, it’s everything.”

Improvements have been made over the years to maintain the building and make it last, but it’s time for something new, said Lakewood Local Schools Superintendent Mary Kay Andrews

“The building is working against our students and staff everyday,” Andrews said. “We have all these great intentions, but the building says ‘no.’”

Voters will decide on Nov. 6 whether to pass a 28-year, $39.8 million bond issue the district is seeking for a new elementary school.

The issue would cost homeowners about $178 per $100,000 of home value annually. The levy includes the cost of building a new elementary school to house pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade students — currently in separate buildings — as well as improvements to the district’s middle and high schools.

The current Hebron Elementary building is a challenge for a number of reasons, said Principal Nikki Henry.

Built in 1913, the three-story school originally housed kindergarten through 12th grade before becoming the district’s K-2 school. An addition was built in the 1960s to meet the needs of the growing district, but it didn’t include many of the improvements teachers need today.

Wheelchair lifts and ramps are accessible only on the first two floors. There’s no safety vestibule at the front entrance. Ceilings leak when it rains, and some hallways smell dank from dampness or the smell of urine wafting from the bathrooms.

No central air in the building means industrial-size fans blow nonstop on hot days, which creates a distraction for students, Henry said.

“It makes it a challenge for children to work with sweat dripping down their little faces,” Henry said.

Technology, or lack thereof, is another big problem for teachers. Henry said the current building’s infrastructure doesn’t support modern technology.

McCartney’s classroom has three working outlets. Christy Schmidt, a first-grade teacher, has four in her room, but said she is still careful not to plug in too many things and possibly blow a fuse.

Hebron Elementary teachers and administrators have big dreams for their new school: more collaborative spaces, more flexible seating, inviting classrooms, interactive technology.

For now, McCartney said she and her colleagues are doing the best they can with what they have.

Come election day, Henry said, she hopes voters help bring her students into the 21st century.

“It’s about time for our elementary students to be able to tap into their top potential,” Henry said.