Since the school year began, Schreiber students have been welcomed each morning by a chaotic, ever-changing construction site.  Although expanding the school building is necessary for future students, the construction has led to many safety hazards and other issues, while simultaneously placing necessary repairs in the existing wings on the back burner.  It is essential for Schreiber to maintain a safe learning environment without the interference of construction with students’ education.  

Unfortunately, the construction has indirectly resulted in COVID-19 safety protocol violations.  Although the Schreiber administration usually prioritizes these pandemic guidelines, the new construction projects have forced students to squeeze together in close proximity in common areas, such as the cafeteria and gym.  These issues could have been prevented if the construction had started last year when fewer students were in the building and should now provide an impetus to finish the construction quickly.  The construction near the entrance has also led to several classes in the main hallways dealing with loud noises that disrupt the learning process; given that windows must remain open to increase ventilation and decrease the spread of COVID-19, this issue has been exacerbated. 

The construction has created visual nuisances and other inconveniences, as well as genuine safety concerns. It has led to awkwardly boarded-up windows and doors, reduced parking and outdoor spaces for students, and an overall messy drop-off experience in the morning.  More shockingly, construction is never halted for students, and every morning large construction equipment is moved around while students are entering the building.  Furthermore, the construction fences, which are installed to prevent people from entering the construction zones, have, on occasion, been left open and unlocked during and after school.  The effects of this construction project are more than minor inconveniences; they are real safety hazards whose prevention is not enforced.  However, the safety hazards that lie outside the building are additionally compounded by those that lie within. 

Throughout this year, a student-run Instagram known as @schreiberfallingapart has documented the many issues plaguing Schreiber’s infrastructure.  Some of the images include exit signs hanging loose from ceilings, toilets that flush and subsequently flood, cockroaches galore, open electrical units and outlets, broken window panes, and a graveyard of plastic desk shields worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.  These issues are both aesthetically unappealing and genuine safety hazards that pose serious threats to students.

The account has also documented the many leaks and holes in the roof of the current building.  Since Schreiber has primarily flat roofs, a cheaper alternative to sloped roofs, there is constant flooding and gaping holes in stairwells, hallways, and classrooms that have not been fixed, instead relying on trash cans underneath to catch the leakage.  Some students have mockingly dubbed these trash cans “toilets,” which, unlike the actual toilets, are always open.  Although no official plans for the new construction are posted in the building, the new wings will also have flat roofs based on current construction progress, suggesting this problem is here to stay.  Although some of these leaks have been occurring for months, especially the one in the social studies wing, the school has done nothing more than putting up trash cans and signs warning students not to slip on the water on the ground. 

Simply put, Schreiber is falling apart, which is appalling for a school district with a budget of $167 million.  The district must address the concerns with the current construction and its toll on students and should additionally consider fixing Schreiber’s many existing issues before proposing the next flashy addition.