The Streets are Watching: Dilapidated School Buildings Deprive Baltimore’s Students, While Simultaneously Feeding Them to the Criminal Justice System

DILAPIDATED SCHOOL BUILDINGS DEPRIVE BALTIMORE’S STUDENTS, WHILE

Canela Una Martín SIMULTANEOUSLY FEEDING THEM TO THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

Acosta Eatman

The talks of fixing Baltimore’s dilapidated school buildings are nothing new. In 2013 some measures were taken to remedy this ongoing problem, but due to the cost, they were more like bandages on bullet holes. Johns Hopkins University, Interim Assistant Director of Hop-In school-aged children suffer due to decrepit academic facilities. Unorganized and unplanned performance of what should have been regularly scheduled maintenance becomes reactive maintenance, which is both costly and detrimental to the community. Alumni from schools like Lake Clifton “We all know that clean, quiet, safe, Eastern High School rallied to maintain comfortable and healthy environments the building and to keep the school open. However, in November of 2018, Lake Clifton along with three other schools were are an important component of successful teaching and learning... School facilities scheduled to be “surplused” which, in affect learning. Spatial configurations, essence, means closed. Four closed noise, heat, cold, light, and air schools. They were stated to be returned quality”(Schneider, 1970). to the City of Baltimore between 2019

and 2020. Criteria considered prior to closing the Baltimore schools included student enrollment trends, the age and condition of the school buildings, the racial composition of each school’s student body, educational program offerings, and financial considerations.

Lake Clifton Eastern High School has a capacity of 2,540 (BaltimoreCitySchools. Org, 2019). The program currently housed in the Lake Clifton building is the ‘Reach! Partnership School’ which serves 575 students in grades 9-12 (BaltimoreCitySchools.Org, 2019). In the 2016-2017 academic year, the percentage of students achieving proficiency in high school Reading/Language Arts was 10-14% (Public School Review, 2019), more than 25% lower than the Maryland state average and still below the nationwide average (Public School Review, 2019), which according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, was 37% (NAEP Report Cards, 2019). Additionally, a direct correlation has been made between the -school- toprison pipeline system and functional illiteracy. Dr. Philip Schlechty, CEO and Founder of the nonprofit Schlechty Center for Leadership in School Reform, defines functional illiteracy as “reading and writing skills that are inadequate to manage daily living and employment tasks that require reading skills beyond a basic level in any language.” Approximately 85% of all juvenile inmates are functionally illiterate. potential to educate over 2,500 students, dwindle to a little over a quarter of that amount, a clear message is being sent to the community: your education is only considered in terms of monetary functionality. In 2014, CEO Gregory Thornton assured the alumni of Lake Clifton Eastern High School that it would remain open, making renovations a priority since they had been put off for so long. Yet, on March 26th , 2019, at the recommendation of the CEO, the board voted in favor of the schools closure at the end of 2019.

Because renovation is costly, it becomes worth a king’s ransom when postponed. Comprehensive planning and management of urban infrastructure is paramount when upkeep is calculated by project management personnel. A building such as Lake Clifton Eastern High School, built in 1971,requires regularly scheduled maintenance. project management has final deliverables hat are controlled by allocated budget and timetables. The question becomes, what was the timescale and budget for thehigh school building? For a buildingthat is nearly 50 years old, poor maintenance isn’t an option. A project of this magnitude requires a manager with proper training, suitable manuals, adequate spare parts and a plausible budget. A preventive maintenance The absence of the aforementioned components connotes deficient educational opportunities. Scarce academic resources are the gateway to community bankruptcy. The likelihood of students in dilapidated schools becoming involved in the criminal justice system increases when the scheduled maintenance of schools decreases.

When Lake Clifton Eastern High School alumni petitioned city officials to keep their alma mater open and make renovations a priority, it seems Thornton’s assurance of the school remaining open was unsustainable as the pricey renovations had not been included in the cost analysis of the first phase. Lake Clifton was closed to eliminate expenses due to the poorly maintained facility– precisely what alumni attempted to avoid as far back as 2014. Properly maintained schools demand adequate and realistic funding sources, to increase the likelihood of safer communities and narrow the school-to-prison pipeline.

References:

Baltimorecityschools.org. (2019). [online]. Available at: https://www.baltimorecityschools.org/sites/default/files/2019-01/CEFMP-2018.pdf [Accessed 1 Nov. 2019].

NAEP Report Cards. (2019). [online] Available at: https://www.nationsreportcard. gov/. [Accessed 1 Nov. 2019].

Public School Review. (2019). [online] Available at: https://www.publicschoolreview.com/the-reach-partnership-school-profile [Accessed 1 Nov. 2019].

Schneider, M. (1970, January 1). Do School Facilities Affect Academic Outcomes? National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities, available at http://www. edfacilities.org/pubs/outcomes.pdf, accessed 28.08.08. Retrieved from http://core. ac.uk/display/21643333.

Literacy Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2019, from:https://www.begintoread.com/research/literacystatistics.html.