Classroom Prep Spotlights Building Decay

Wilbur Cross teachers rushed to prepare their classrooms for Thursday’s first day of school by hanging up posters of Angela Davis, signs reading ​“be brave,” and world maps — and by cleaning mold from walls, covering broken floor tiles with rugs, and mopping the floors of classrooms and bathrooms alike.

The Independent observed educators at the city’s largest public high school undertake that work on Wednesday to do all they could to get their classrooms ready for the start of the 2024 – 25 school year, all at a time when schools across the district are struggling with mounting disrepair.

In the early afternoon, Wilbur Cross staff moved around desks, brought in home decor, and strung up colorful lights in their classrooms to make welcoming and safe spaces for their students. 

Meanwhile, as many staff attempted to spice up their classrooms, retired Cross English teacher and current sub Barbara Sasso and English educator Kim Anderson had to get creative when it came to the several water damaged and broken floor tiles at the entrance to Anderson’s classroom. 

“It’s not welcoming. Our students deserve more respect,” Anderson said. 

Wilbur Cross Principal Matt Brown told the Independent Wednesday that this year Cross has an estimated 1,840 enrolled students, up from around 1,770 at this time last year. The school also has a total of 148 teachers with two vacancies still left to fill as of Wednesday. 

He noted that with such a large school there comes things that staff can and cannot control. He said while the school’s custodial team is always hard at work for several hours during the day, there still remain physical conditions that need to be addressed in the aging building. 

In an email to the Independent Wednesday, New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) spokesperson Justin Harmon said, ​“We appreciate the work that teachers put into making sure their classrooms are welcoming, even in an environment where maintenance funding and therefore maintenance have long been inadequate.” 

He continued, ​“We are doing our best to deploy our resources as effectively as we can. We ask that schools staff continue to inform us of problems they encounter so that we can try to address them — and also improve on the service we provide.”

While helping her colleagues at Wilbur Cross Wednesday, Sasso pointed out chipping stairwell treads, damaged ceiling tiles, and mold growth on ceiling ventilation systems that haven’t been fixed despite work orders being submitted by school leaders over the years. She also recognized that Cross’ principal and custodial staff have ​“done all they can.” 

She noted that water-damaged ceiling tiles have been replaced in some places in the past, but the water leaks are not addressed, so the issue of damaged tiles always returns. ​“It’s disgraceful for any teacher and student,” Sasso said about these conditions.

Educators washed walls, floors, and desks Wednesday while some classroom temperatures hit 80 degrees. 

Anderson decided the best way to remedy the broken flooring at her classroom’s entrance would be to put a rug over the damage after she threw several of the loose pieces into a trashcan herself. 

The day before, Anderson said, she bleached the bathroom closest to her classroom and purchased $200 worth of bathroom supplies like soap and menstrual products to stock up the women’s bathroom. Anderson said the building’s condition at the start of this school year has been the worst she’s seen throughout her 25 years of teaching.

“This is not dignifying,” Anderson said. ​“We all should be able to come here and feel clean and comfortable.” 

Anderson concluded Wednesday’s prep work by cleaning her classroom floor with a mop she brought from home. 

A few doors down, English teacher Akimi Nelken also worked to prepare her classroom. When she first moved to a classroom positioned near the Orange Street rear of the building five years ago, Nelken said she reported concerns with ceiling tiles in the room that weren’t addressed and have since gotten worse in terms of water damage and mold growth.

Over the past two days, special education and multi-handicap classroom educators Lauren Pollio and Melissa Pellino have spent seven hours each day organizing and cleaning up three classrooms at Cross. The duo’s number of handicapped students has grown this year from 25 students to 37, which has required them to expand to a third classroom rather than the two they worked out of last year. 

“This is what we do for the kids,” Pollio said while mopping the classroom and bathroom floors. 

Across the hall in Mark CoFrancesco’s woodworking workshop, he also prepared for the school year. He made cardboard signs for his classroom sink to indicate the two of the four faucets that don’t work. 

He noted his classroom’s damaged door frame that he’s submitted complaints about for the past five years. ​“Depending on the weather there’s critters that come in, some with fur and some without,” he said. 

Brown, the school’s principal, said Wednesday he’s grateful for the team of new and veteran educators who are ​“pouring all their energy in bringing dignity to our physical spaces.” 

He noted that Cross has been a hub for summer programming up until August. That means there were 1,000 people coming in and out of the building daily throughout the summer. ​“It’s a huge job,” he said. 

Brown concluded that this year he looks forward to Cross’ new opportunities with a BioCity pathway, an expanded business pathway for students to now take courses at Southern Connecticut State University, a Pashto course, and grant applications for the school to increase its resources for ninth graders transitioning to high school.