Teachers and parents press Mount Diablo Unified on rushed modernizations, safety gaps and missing curriculum

Teachers and parents at a Mount Diablo Unified School District board meeting this week urged the district to fix safety problems, improve communication and restore promised materials after summer modernization work left multiple classrooms incomplete.

Philip Kubota, a second‑grade teacher at Rio Vista Elementary, said construction crews were still working in classrooms days before the start of school and that teachers received keys and classrooms only two days before students returned. "I had 102 boxes packed," Kubota said, describing having about a day and a half to set up his classroom. He listed unfinished items including exposed wiring, broken glass and a nonfunctional fire alarm in some spaces and said the cafeteria air conditioning promised in plans was not installed.

Other teachers echoed his account. Colleen Vanmoutreive said Mount Diablo Elementary teachers lacked district‑adopted social studies, language arts and science workbooks and the required reading‑assessment kit at the start of school; she said no teacher at her site had the materials the Williams Textbook Sufficiency Act requires for textbooks and asked the district to prioritize delivery. Joanna Shelley, a kindergarten teacher, described live, exposed outlets and construction debris that distract five‑year‑olds and said furniture chosen for renovated classrooms reduced collaborative learning and left no shelves for classroom libraries.

Facilities executive Melanie Koslow told the board the district completed large scopes of work during about nine weeks of construction — windows, lighting, new floors, doors and technology infrastructure — but acknowledged that some items rolled into the school year because of manufacturing and labor delays. Koslow said the team is scheduling site meetings to gather teacher feedback and place additional furniture and storage orders for phases 2 and 3.

On specific safety claims — such as cigarette butts, exposed electrical connections and audibles not working in a few spaces — Koslow said the district runs daily safety meetings with contractors and had arranged temporary fire‑watch protocols where required. She said the district was in daily contact with the county inspector and was addressing punch‑list items immediately: "Every comment we hear is as important to us as it is to you," she said.

Human resources and maintenance staff also described practical constraints that caused some disruptions: key mechanical items arrived late, certain countertops and casework were backordered, and epoxy flooring needed curing time before final installs. Koslow said classroom window coverings and remaining cabinetry are scheduled to arrive in the coming weeks and that some permanent exterior doors are expected to be installed mid‑September.

Teachers and union leaders said the urgency of those fixes and clearer communications are essential. Linda Ortega, president of MEDEA, said she filed a district grievance on the matter and requested a contingency plan to avoid repeating summer deadlines that leave teachers scrambling.

The board did not take new policy action at the meeting but heard assurances from staff that follow‑up site meetings and additional furniture orders are being scheduled; trustees asked that the district return with a report on progress for upcoming meetings.