The Trenton Times published the following editorial on March 29, 2013. To read the full article, click here.

Editorial: Trenton Central High School repair delays should arouse fury

By Times of Trenton Editorial Board 
on March 29, 2013 at 6:50 AM

The waiting continues at Trenton Central High School, where promised repairs of the deteriorating school’s exterior and roof won’t be finished until at least the end of 2014.

Once the exterior is secured, interior renovations will begin, according to a timeline issued by the state. That work will include ridding the building of the plaster falling from damp ceilings, the warped tiles buckling the floors and the mold infiltrating cracks and corners of a facility threaded with asbestos.

Perhaps that time frame is considered a sprint in the glacial pace of bureaucracy. For the administrators, teachers and kids who must deal every day with the leaks and deficiencies of TCHS, however, the delay has been a matter of potential deferred.

Despite the New Jersey Schools Development Authority’s promise to devote $13.3 million to 18 urgent repair projects at the 80-year-old high school, the Trenton district hasn’t seen that money yet.

So administrators are sounding yet another SOS.

“The conditions at the high school must be addressed immediately,” says Dwayne Mosley, district director of facilities construction. “If we don’t act immediately, there’s a possibility that our students and staff will come into harm’s way.”

To avoid those dangers, the district is setting aside some funds from its strained budget for repairs, starting with the worst parts of the building.

The state has a mandate to provide a thorough and efficient education. That mandate is compromised by the festering conditions at TCHS.

The school conditions are a disgrace. It could have been torn down and replaced years ago. Squabbling and sentiment tripped up a plan to do just that in the days when such projects were possible, long before the economy withered.

But that’s not the fault of the thousands of students and their teachers, who are struggling to overcome added obstacles. The lure of gangs, hardship and indifference — these are detours that can divert teens from the education and opportunity available to them. The physical condition of their school should not be among those impediments.

Seeing such conditions in a struggling country might stir pity. Seeing them in the capital city of one of the most prosperous states in the union ought to arouse fury.

We urge the SDA to work with the Trenton school district to immediately address the most severe problems at the school as it inches along toward becoming a fully renovated and repaired building.