Teachers lack classrooms

SANDPOINT — Washington Elementary School’s upper quartile math and science teacher Rod Swerin is a teacher without a classroom.

Instead, he shares space with several regular classroom teachers.

Students are not the only people affected by lack of space, which also takes its toll on teachers and staff, Supt. Dick Cvitanich said.

“I sometimes think people forget about those folks,” he said.

Swerin taught science at Sandpoint Middle School before moving to Washington Elementary this school year after Lake Pend Oreille School District received a three-year grant from Coldwater Creek and Litehouse to expand its upper quartile programs.

He shares space in Susan Lee’s sixth grade classroom for science and teaches upper quartile math in two upstairs fifth grade classrooms at the same time, walking back and forth between both rooms to help students.

Those upper quartile students in Moore’s room do their work in an alcove while students in her room do their own work.

Although his coworkers and students have adapted to the situation, Swerin said more time could be spent on instruction rather than preparation if the students could work in a central classroom where science experiments could be set up in the same location in which students work.

Science is one of the most challenging subjects to teach because of its complexity and the amount of preparation time it takes to set up and conduct experiments, said Supt. Dick Cvitanich, a former school teacher.

The hope is that voters will approve a $14.1 million plant facilities levy on May 20 so that the district can purchase a modular building for a centralized classroom for both programs.

Currently, Swerin prepares items for students’ science experiments in his office or on a table in the teacher’s lounge if the computer in his office is being used by a student for testing, then places the experiments on a cart and wheels them to the sixth grade room.

The school struggles with other space issues — problems that will still exist even if the levy is approved.

Title 1 and speech services are administered in what were janitorial closets. One days when not enough space is available in the Title 1 room, students are moved to a table in a hallway near a stairwell used to access the building’s second floor.

The speech room is about 6x12 feet wide. Once a janitor’s closet, its only source of light comes from a window that was added to the door, along with a grate at the bottom for ventilation.

The teacher’s lounge is wedged between the school’s library and gymnasium/lunch room. Some creative person attempted to boost the mood in the windowless lounge by painting two canvasses with outdoors scene and fitting them into what appear to be former windows that have been covered.

The lounge also is used for storage, teaching kindergartener’s who need additional help and other spill-over activities.

The school’s small library also serves as its music room and functions for other events, such as math competitions.

Washington Elementary is slated to receive $323,660 if voters approve the May 20 plant facilities levy.

Besides adding the modular building, funds designated for that school also would be used for asbestos removal, replacement of water pipe, tile in the building’s west end, a rubberized playground foundation, concrete walkway and parking lot repair, along with upgrading the heating system.

Washington also lacks parking and is even more problematic when there is snow on the ground and parents are trying to pick up their children, Cvitanich said. People park in front of neighbor’s houses and those bringing in items for school projects have a difficult time getting into the school, partially because it lacks sidewalks on one side and also because the concrete in front of the school is badly heaved and needs to be replaced, he said.

“This community loves this school,” Cvitanich said. He is concerned, however, that community members who frequently see the problems get so used to them that they do not see the issues anymore.

Patrons should note that installation of rubberized playground foundations is planned for all of the elementary schools. The material not only is more cost effective than wood chips, but it also is much safer, Cvitanich said.

Although school officials are careful about how children use playground equipment, several children have suffered broken arms while playing at the schools, he said. The district also cannot control how children act on the equipment when school is not in session, said principal Marlene Rorke.

Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of articles about the upcoming plant facilities levy.