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Advisory board, council press school district for Peters Elementary playground and door fixes
Summary
Plantation’s Educational Advisory Board reported installation of an audio notification system for deaf and hard-of-hearing students but said Peters Elementary still lacks a full playground and at least one classroom door remains without a window. The board and council said they are actively pursuing the remaining fixes with the school district.
The Educational Advisory Board told the City Council at an advisory‑board workshop on Jan. 15 that the district’s new audio enhancement and emergency notification system is now installed and working in Plantation schools serving deaf and hard‑of‑hearing students, but physical safety issues at Peters Elementary remain unresolved.
"It is working in all of the schools," said Jessie Valenzuela, a representative of the Educational Advisory Board, describing the audio system that the board and council had pushed for over several years. Valenzuela said the system’s arrival was ‘‘the better part of three years’’ in the making.
Valenzuela said the school still lacks a playground; the site is ‘‘kind of torn up’’ and the board has received no definitive timeline for replacement. She also said some recently installed classroom doors have no windows — a problem she called ‘‘bunker doors’’ — and that five of the affected doors in deaf and hard‑of‑hearing classrooms have been replaced but one remains without a window. Valenzuela said she has been meeting with Dr. Holness, the district’s representative, and had a follow‑up meeting scheduled the next day.
Council members pressed for updates during the workshop. Mayor Sordo and other council members urged Valenzuela to keep the city informed after her next meeting with the district. Valenzuela said some follow‑up emails to Smart‑project engineers were not answered and that items tied to the district’s Smart project can take longer to resolve than routine maintenance work.
The Educational Advisory Board also announced plans for a new Plantation Educational Network to coordinate parent‑teacher organizations and to revive a spelling bee previously sponsored by outside groups; those items are intended to increase engagement and school support beyond the immediate repair work.
No formal council action was taken at the workshop; council members and the board said they would continue to press the district for the playground replacement and the remaining door fix and would report back to the council with updates.
