WASHINGTON — Some DC Public School students have to try to learn in the dark -- and their teachers are in the dark about why that hasn't been fixed.
“How is anyone supposed to learn and feel safe in a building that like can't give them the basic things like air conditioning [and] light?” Langdon Elementary teacher Jennifer Fitzpatrick said.
Her daughter also attends Langdon.
She sent WUSA9 multiple pictures of classrooms without functioning lights and error codes on HVAC systems.
She said all school year, half of the cafeteria lights have been out, too.
“It's incredibly frustrating, especially because I guess I just don't understand," Fitzpatrick said. "I feel like this should be an emergency, and it's not being treated as such.”
She has tried to go through the requested routes to get help.
“I've been reaching out to the chancellor, the mayor, the council members," she said. "The council members are receptive and respond. But again, I don't even know what they can do.”
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If anything has gotten done, she said it has only been putting Band-aids over systemic problems, like adding hanging heaters, which she said teachers can't reach to adjust.
“Now that it's getting colder, I'm still sending my daughter in like shorts and a T-shirt with like a sweater on top, because I don't know what else to do. And it gets really uncomfortable," Fitzpatrick said.
She worries it's an equity issue.
Langdon Elementary's students are 88% Black/African American and 10% Latino, according to the district's website.
“It's really frustrating as an educator to sit in professional development meetings, every professional development day, and listen to how this appears [they're] making sure we're focused on equity when like, that's just not what you see on the ground at all," Fitzpatrick said.
She loves Langdon academically -- she just wants her students and daughter to be able to learn comfortably.
Our investigative team also looked into broken security cameras, HVAC systems, and lights – as well as the entire work order system.
That was supposed to be publicly available on Saturday, and it missed the deadline.
Because of that, Councilmember Robert White, who chairs the committee overseeing the Department of General Services responsible for these repairs, sent WUSA 9 the following statement:
My DC Council colleagues and I worked hard to give the public access to the Department of General Services (DGS) work order system for school maintenance issues so that students and staff know what problems have been reported and when they will be fixed. We set a deadline of October 1, 2022. I’m disappointed that DGS did not meet that deadline.
I get calls and emails almost every day from parents and school staff asking for updates on overdue repairs. That’s why I’ve been fighting so hard to make the work order system public.
The Committee on Government Operations and Facilities, which I chair, worked with DGS last spring to make sure it had funding to start hiring people to implement the dashboard to meet the October 1 deadline.
While the initial deadline has passed, I believe that a significant delay is unacceptable. I will remain in close contact with DGS to make sure the dashboard goes live as soon as possible.
UPDATE: DGS has since made the dashboard live and sent WUSA 9 the following statement on October 4:
The Department of General Services (DGS) has updated the DGS Public Work Order Dashboard so that parents and the education community can have a real-time view of repairs – both opened and closed – that have occurred or is occurring at their school, beyond HVAC needs. Technical difficulties that have been addressed now allows the dashboard to be viewed publicly at this link: DGS Public Work Order Dashboard. The dashboard will update on business days, on a weekly basis.