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Carver Families Seek Doors and Walls, District Says Design Work Underway
Summary
Parents, staff and students from Dr. George Washington Carver Elementary pressed the board for full-height walls and closable classroom doors citing noise, ventilation and safety concerns. District facilities staff said a design process has started and estimated the work could approach $1 million because HVAC and electrical modifications are required.
Dozens of parents, grandparents, students and staff from Dr. George Washington Carver Elementary School told the Board of Education on March 22 that the school’s open-pod classroom design — with no interior walls or doors — harms instruction and heightens safety risk.
Family liaison Donna Smith described the conditions as “separate and unequal,” saying the school’s open classroom configuration makes it difficult for students to focus and for teachers to manage behavior. Parents and school monitors provided examples of frequent noise that forces students to use headphones during reading and of an incident they said involved an angry parent who entered the site and threatened to set a fire.
“We have no classroom doors or walls at Dr. George Washington Carver. Is this equity?” Smith asked the board.
Several students also spoke directly: fourth graders and other young students told the board they could not focus without doors and asked for protection and privacy.
Superintendent and Chief Facilities Officer David Golden replied that district staff have begun a design process with the school’s principal and that a full retrofit is more extensive than merely adding drywall: ventilation and electrical systems will need relocation to make classrooms functional and code-compliant. Golden said preliminary estimates put the work “close to a million dollars” and that staff will reallocate existing bond funds to begin the project rather than wait for a new bond.
Community members handed a petition with more than 200 signatures to the board and asked for an expedited timeline. Family members also raised scheduling concerns: several said public comment late in the meeting forced families with young children to stay very late and requested earlier public-comment slots.
What’s next: District facilities staff said they will return to the community with a timeline for design and construction; the superintendent said the project team is already meeting with the principal and will update the board and community.
Quote: "No classroom doors and walls is not equitable," said Donna Smith, family liaison at Carver.
