I recently read the article in your paper (“PTC’s McIntosh High School to receive a facelift”) about the $900,000 the Fayette County Board of Education is planning to spend on a glass walkway between buildings so the kids won’t have to walk downstairs to get to another part of the school.
I can’t believe Fayette County is spending that kind of money on a walkway when that school has so many other needs that should be addressed. I’ve had two children attend McIntosh, and every time I walk through those doors I’m disgusted at how dirty the place is. The bathrooms in particular could use a facelift, as well as many of the classrooms, stairwells and hallways.
If you walk into the band, theater or locker rooms you can often see dead cockroaches and the floors look like they haven’t been cleaned in years. I was told that the kids just kill the roaches they see in the classroom and go about their business like it was nothing. The showers are never used because the fixtures and floors are old and dirty.
When I was at a football game this year, I noticed that the band equipment and instruments looked worn. And let’s not forget all the junk that’s underneath the bleachers behind a fence that look like it was dumped there to rot. I won’t use the bathroom at games because they look so dirty and disgusting. I’m embarrassed at other schools having to use them.
My child came home just this week and told me there was a mouse running around one of the classrooms and the teacher just shrugged and said it had been there all day. She says there is a definite mouse problem and she has actually seen them twice this year. She says there are old grass cuttings and equipment dumped behind the school that just sit there.
Some of the bathrooms have leaking toilets and the water collects in the stalls; I’ve seen this myself. The kids often bring their own bottles of soap because there is none in the bathrooms.
The ceiling in the cafeteria has paint peeling off and when it rains the pipes leak onto the tables our kids eat off of. My child has a picture of the leaky pipes on her phone. Kids slip on the stairs because the no slip treads are missing. The water fountains often have brown water coming out of them and are rarely cold.
It seems like nothing at McIntosh has been replaced or repaired in years. The grounds don’t look that great, and the school has a general air of neglect.
I could go on and on about my impressions and what my children tell me, but the general message is: Why are we spending money on a glass walkway for a school that needs so many other, more important repairs?
The new glass walkway looks very pretty in the architect’s drawing, but it’s just a Band-Aid on the real problems at McIntosh.
I think that $900,000 could be better spent on cleaning supplies, maintenance, general repairs, and replacement of some fixtures.
McIntosh students have proven themselves to be some of the most academically talented in the state. Don’t they deserve a clean and up-to-date building to study in?
I am requesting that my name be withheld from this editorial because I don’t want there to be any repercussions for my kids from the administration or their friends.
Name withheld by request
