PTA Council - Building Letter — File 22-1573

Mayor Katjana Ballantyne September 15, 2022 City Hall, 93 Highland Avenue Somerville, MA 02143 Dear Mayor Ballantyne: We, the Somerville Council of PTAs, are writing to express our concern about the state of our school facilities. The Somerville Council of PTAs is made up of and represents the PTAs at each of the Somerville Public Schools. Just this year, we have seen critical system failures across the Somerville Public School system – major HVAC failures, repeated power outages, broken elevators, leaking plumbing, disrepair at schoolyards, dangerously high classroom temperatures, and more. The well-documented state of disrepair at several buildings routinely disrupts school operations and risks the health and safety of our students, educators, and staff. These impacts fall especially hard upon some of our most disadvantaged and vulnerable individuals in our communities. We have seen the disruption caused by the neglect of our school facilities. In just the past 15 years, there were major student displacements after East Somerville burned, Brown’s roof collapsed, and Winter Hill’s air quality closed it completely during COVID. We cannot repeat the pattern of running our buildings to failure and then enduring the disruption and expense of emergency repairs. It is primarily our students who bear the brunt of these impacts. We are requesting the following urgent actions: ● Talk to us - In-person attendance at an upcoming Council of PTAs meeting to discuss school facilities, clear communication about renovation timelines and priority relative to other City capital projects ● Finish the job - Long overdue projects need to be completed or initiated immediately ● School Punch Lists - The formation of an audit group for each school building, including City personnel, parents and caregivers, and school staff, to catalog small- and medium-scale projects that especially focus on safety, accessibility, and classroom environment ● Community participation and planning - Formation of a School Facility Committee that includes parents and staff, centering these decade- and century-long infrastructure decisions in the communities they serve, including looking to future SPS enrollment needs and potential new facilities ● Funding - Substantial increase in funding for improvement and maintenance projects on the above “punch lists,” especially focused on $25,000-$500,000 projects during the critical summer window Our current system is clearly not working. The City has repeatedly funded study after study telling us what our students, staff, and families already know – our school facilities are in a serious state of disrepair and some are approaching systemic collapse. We urgently need leadership to reinvent our City’s patchwork system so that we can meet the educational needs of our City’s youngest residents both now and in the future. Sincerely, Somerville Council of PTAs Cc: Mary Skipper, Superintendent, Somerville Public Schools Jeff Curley, Interim Superintendent, Somerville Public Schools Somerville City Council Somerville School Committee

Leiran Biton President, Somerville Council of PTAs Joanna Taylor President, Albert F. Argenziano School PTA Ryan Williams President, Brown School PTA Betsy Larkin President, Capuano Early Childhood Center PTA Amy Mertl President, East Somerville Community School PTA Emily Lalka President, Healey School PTA Caroline Rosas President, John F. Kennedy School PTA Vice President, Somerville High School PTSA Callie Wiser President, West Somerville Neighborhood School PTA Uma Murugan President, Winter Hill Community Innovation School PTA Callie Wiser (Sep 15, 2022 09:38 EDT) Caroline Rosas (Sep 15, 2022 09:44 EDT) Caroline Rosas Leiran Biton (Sep 15, 2022 09:53 EDT) Amy Mertl (Sep 15, 2022 09:55 EDT) Uma M. Murugan (Sep 15, 2022 10:12 EDT) Uma M. Murugan Emily Lalka (Sep 15, 2022 10:38 EDT) Elizabeth A. Larkin (Sep 15, 2022 11:19 EDT) Ryan Williams (Sep 15, 2022 13:09 EDT)