Since the start of the school year, multiple areas around campus have experienced maintenance issues, such as faulty air conditioning, an ant infestation and ceiling tile damage.

“We got the air conditioning around 10 to 12 years ago, so the age of the machine probably contributes to the cause,” assistant principal Robert Shockney said. “It’s been an unusual year. Since we have been back to school we fix some, then some break. We fix more, then break more.” 

Broken air conditioning has caused classroom conditions to deteriorate, impacting both teachers and students. 

“When I am teaching and there is no AC, I definitely see a big change in the students’ behavior,” Viviana Alvarado-Gomez, Spanish 4 and AP Spanish teacher, said. “I see them not wanting to participate, and I do a lot of speaking activities and less people raise their hand. When the room is nice and cool, students feel [more] comfortable talking to each other.” 

Inconsistent air conditioning has not only caused discomfort, but has led to a ceiling tile in Alvarado-Gomez’s classroom to collapse. 

“The ceiling tiles that are falling are related to the air conditioning condensation dripping under the tiles,” Shockney said. 

Alvarado-Gomez shared that the AC issues have worsened over time.

“Since the beginning of the school year, we haven’t had any AC working,” Alvagadro-Gomez said. “They came two weeks after school started and worked on it, but ever since, it’s [the tiles] have been leaking. It’s not just a little bit of water — there’s a lot. I have to keep a trash can under the leak, and it fills up quickly. The ceiling panels got so wet that they became heavy, and during one class, one of the panels collapsed completely.”

Students in Alvarado-Gomez’s class got to experience the consequence firsthand when it collapsed during one of her classes.   

“We noticed that there was water leaking from the ceiling above, and it was going into one of the tiles and creating a bubble of water,” Danica Ristic (10) said. “We assumed that we would be fine, so we put a trash can under it, but the ceiling collapsed because there was too much water. Water sprayed everywhere, all over, even on my backpack.” 

In addition to air conditioning malfunctions, other concerns around campus include recurring issues with dust, moisture and pests.

“I think one of the biggest problems in these classrooms is that the carpet gets really dusty and we have water leaks, so when they get wet, it gets really smelly,” Alvarado-Gomez said. 

Despite the severity of these problems, efforts to fix them have been delayed, as SDUHSD faces widespread issues with air conditioning repairs. 

“I’ve heard from the people fixing the AC that this is a problem throughout the district, and there are so many orders that it is taking a long time to fix things,” Alvarado-Gomez said. 

Along with the air conditioning malfunctioning in certain parts of the school, there is an ongoing ant problem in the B building. 

“Even before the students were back, ants would swarm any bit of food, even if there wasn’t any around,” John Milner, AP World History, AP U.S. Government, AP Macroeconomics and Sociology teacher, said. “They get on everything including books, binders, and the students. Any kind of food you brought in or even when there was no food, massive amounts of [them] streamlined directly to any little bit of food.”

Meanwhile, the worsening ant situation has affected students who have also expressed frustration. 

“I will put my binder down and pick it back up and there will be dead [ants] all over my binder and [they would] crawl on my legs, so it is just kind of disgusting,” Audra Clark (12) said. 

While the ant problem is spreading, some teachers have seen slight improvements. 

“I’ve had some ants in my classroom, though less than most of the other classes due to my proximity to the construction [of the pool],” Jeffrey Owen, AP Macro Economics and World History teacher, said. “I think the construction has disturbed the ants’ homes, and now they’re trying to find a new place to be, which is why they’re coming into our classrooms.” 

While Owen’s classroom shows signs of improvement, others are still struggling to resolve their issues. Despite the slow progress, the school district continues to work towards a solution. 

“We have had good support from our district office maintenance and operations team,” Shockney said. “For the air conditioning, they have hired companies to work with us, but now the holdup is [getting] parts. We have a bug guy that comes out and sprays products that are allowed at schools, but other than that we live on their [the ants] land.” 

As efforts continue to resolve the ant and AC issues, teachers urge students to do their part.

“Kids, if teachers say not to eat in here, [just do not eat in here] because there is a huge problem,” Milner said. “Everyone needs to be respectful, like pick up your trash and pick up your food.”