Delphi Community High School principal Barry Stone, Superintendent Ralph Walker and approximately 22 high school and middle school teachers led the school board on a tour of the high school Oct. 21, describing the conditions of the facility. The tour was held as a work session for school board members considering a $13 million dollar renovation package. Many concerns were shared by each teacher and administrator.

The most comments were directed toward the science and business departments. Science teachers said there were many experiments or activities they could not safely do. There is no way to exhaust fumes, agreed Kirk Janowiak and Jessica Berger, science teachers. Janowiak said that he must go outside to mix simple chemicals.

"The labs we had at the old middle school were better," said Karen Hanni, middle school teacher.

Delivering electricity to rooms which increasingly need to power technology was another concern. There are only three electrical outlets in the art room. In the business computer lab, terminals are connected by extension cords. Power lines were run from the gym. Laurie Kinzie and Chad Dale who teach in the lab said often the breaker will blow, and kids will lose their work. Dale said one day sparks shot from the wall. He pointed out his white board where he writes instructional notes. It was a long piece of white butcher paper taped to a door.

Stone said that a technical person told him that the school could not support even one more computer.

Lighting and electrical upgrades are a school wide need according to teachers. Several classrooms had low lighting levels and light switches located on inner walls. People must enter the room in pitch darkness. Students fall and run into things. Recently a custodian fell and needed 17 staples in her head. She also broke her nose.

HVAC work is needed throughout the building. Every teacher reported that his/her room was consistently too hot or too cold. There is a lack of usable space causing teachers to delete projects and activities. Some teachers have to share classrooms. One teacher has no classroom. The art classroom has expanded into the hallway as there is no space to store supplies or to dry projects. Students place their work in the halls, where it often is destroyed.

Other concerns were: there are no language learning labs, many areas are not wheelchair accessible, the special education classes must work on life skills in the ag wing where they must cook on hot plates and boil water to wash their dishes, the locker bay is a security risk and a waste of space.

Board president Robert Resler said when the board promised not to raise the tax rate, they were thinking about 2007 numbers, but now they were working with 2008-2009 rates. He stated he voted down some of the renovations five years ago.

"I had some tough concerns over this tonight," said board member Jerry Sparks, "But they have been answered. I learned stuff tonight that I hadn't learned before."

Board member Melinda Rossetter stated it sickened her to see how students and teachers had been short changed,

"I would like to be a part of making things better," Rossetter said.

The board will consider the package at its next meeting, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m.