At a different school I saw a sign in a portable classroom that said it was a violation of federal law to turn off the air conditioner blower. Is the air in these portables safe to breathe or do they have to keep the blower on so that it keeps getting breatheable air in there?

My parent taught Special Education in a portable with no problems. The AV Department is responsible for projector issues.
Most structures are designed for a forty year lifespan. If there is a problem, the Building Maintenance department needs to do the job properly THE FIRST TIME.

That means proper roof repairs and HVAC repairs.

I note that when I had the REACH program at Cubberley, these same conditions came up and the Maintenance Department fixed things right the first time.

Teachers forcing construction issues? Very UNPROFESSIONAL behavior on their part.

I work in one of the portables at one of the schools in the district. The conditions in a portable are not pleasant. The thermostat/air system is antiquated and loud. We have to yell over it. It sucks in all sorts of smells from outside and pushes it into the portable for us to breathe. We have had to live with the smells of skunks, dead rodents, lawn mower exhaust, etc. I don’t allow students to use the water to drink - I have no idea how old the pipes are and what might be in them. The carpet is disgustingly dirty from many years of wear. We can hear crows pecking on the ceiling and can hear what is going on outside due to poor insulation around the windows. We only have exits on one side of the portable so if there is ever an emergency that affects that side of the room (fire, earthquake, campus shooter, etc.) we are in serious trouble. I don’t understand why campuses with acceptable facilities are being remodeled first while Bubb, Huff and Landels still are operating with portables (and the LAST schools planned to be renovated). I worry that insufficient funds will remain by the time all the other campuses have been remodeled.

@MVWSD Employee of Another Mountain View Neighborhood,

While I certainly concur about the problems with portable, which make up a large portion of the school my daughter attends.
I am somewhat confused by some of your remarks.
Perhaps you could elaborate to clear-up the confusion?
Perhaps you have never examined any of the build plan documents explained at many Board meetings?
Perhaps you have not read the full agenda packages from prior Board meetings?

"...The thermostat/air system is antiquated and loud. We have to yell over it..."

Indeed, we also have the same problem in our portables AND in our even older permanent building with 6 classrooms from the 1970's (or was that 60s?). Those air conditioners really make things difficult to hear.

"We only have exits on one side of the portable so if there is ever an emergency that affects that side of the room"

Yes, that concerns me about our portables too. 2 of our Kindergarten rooms are such portables. Our library and a few other portable rooms have only one exit.
Hey, come to think of it, we also have several permanent-built classrooms where the "emergency exit" requires basically tossing the kids through a small window way over the kids heads and falling to the ground out back of the school.

"I don't understand why campuses with acceptable facilities are being remodeled first"

Now I'm confused, which "campuses with acceptable facilities" are being remodeled before Bubb?

My understanding is that the seriously in need Castro/Mistral dual campus is going first (of the K-5 schools), then Monta Loma has huge problems with their portables and with several permanent buildings, similar to what is wrong at Bubb.

Then, all at once, it will be Bubb, Huff & Landels renovated together.

By all reasonable budgetary math, Measure G will run out after BB/HF/LN are all done, so no G money for Theuerkauf, no G money for Stevenson, no G money for the District Offices and no G money for the new Slater.

So, what schools do you think are in such good shape they should be moved to the end of the line and get no Measure G money?

"while Bubb, Huff and Landels still are operating with portables"

Just like Stevenson and other schools.

"(and the LAST schools planned to be renovated)."

What are you talking about?

Theuerkauf and Stevenson are not even on the LIST to get any Measure G money and Bubb will already be done long before anything gets started at Theuerkauf or Stevenson.

"I worry that insufficient funds will remain by the time all the other campuses have been remodeled."

Not to worry, the plan was always to do Bubb/Huff/Landels all at the same time with the same materials by the same construction company.

The projects which will get nothing from Measure G are Stevenson, Theuerkauf, Slater and the District Offices.

I don't know where you're getting your information, but perhaps you should read the full agenda packages and watch the Board meeting videos?
IT would help you relax.

In response to PACT Parent-

Well, here is the thing. I’ve gone to the middle school campuses that are being renovated. There are buildings there being (or have been) remodeled that had far better working conditions than portables. (And frankly, some of the building remodels I’ve seen are not an improvement over what they originally had.)

I really don’t care to get snarky or into a battle of words about each campus. I just wanted to state facts about working in old portables. I am grateful the teachers at Bubb raised the issue publicly. If we all agree that portables need to be replaced due to poor conditions for employees and students, then why are they not on the top of the list to be replaced first on every campus? If you look into it, you will find that years ago, money did run out on a MVWSD tax measure and schools at the end of the list had to scale way back from what was originally planned. It happens.

@MVWSD Employee of Another Mountain View Neighborhood

You seem to miss the point that Bubb, Huff and Landels are all going to be done at the same time and the existing Measure G money will cover all the work needed at those schools. The District will renovate Castro/Mistral/Monta Loma as a group first, then move on to Bubb/Huff/Landels as a group.

Then we fully expect that the Measure G money will be gone or perhaps just a few million left (if they get lucky). NOT enough money to do anything for Stevenson or Theuerkauf or Slater or the District Offices.

Stevenson will continue to operate in sub-standard portables and really old buildings and all our classrooms are smaller than the classrooms at other schools. Stevenson will have to wait until a new bond measure is passed. We know this and we are pretty sure there is nothing we can do about it.

We're not happy about this, but as long as we are allowed to continue to exist as a school and on our existing site, we can live with the delay. Stevenson getting closed and forcing PACT to move to some other location, that is the real disaster we will fight to avoid.

"I've gone to the middle school campuses that are being renovated."

The Board decided to renovate the 2 middle schools first, because it was politically easy to do. The K-5 schools could NOT all be done at the same time and the Board knew the money would all be gone long before all the K-5 schools would be done, so the decision to shaft some K-5 schools was put off for later. To do all our schools properly, we needed $421 million, but the Measure G bond could only be for $198 million. Clearly, some schools would get the shaft.

"I really don't care to get snarky or into a battle of words about each campus."

But by suggesting that the order the Board has already set for which K-5 schools should be done in is incorrect, you were doing exactly that.

"I just wanted to state facts about working in old portables."

And I agreed, I even expanded the issue to let people know that even in the very old Stevenson permanent building we have similar problems. Yes, portables can be bad when they have not been properly maintained, but lots of schools use them and suffer problems too, like Stevenson.

"I am grateful the teachers at Bubb raised the issue publicly."

As was I, it also raised my awareness of other serious issues at Stevenson even among permanent buildings. But if the choice is living with what we got, or getting closed and forced to move to Slater, we'll stay where we are.

"If we all agree that portables need to be replaced due to poor conditions for employees and students, then why are they not on the top of the list to be replaced first on every campus?"

If you're suggesting that the construction companies run around to each campus and replace ONLY the portables at that campus, then run to the next campus and take out those portables, then so on...????

That would be extremely inefficient and costly.

What works is doing everything on each campus before moving on to the next campus. That saves money.

"you will find that years ago, money did run out on a MVWSD tax measure and schools at the end of the list had to scale way back from what was originally planned. It happens."

I am well aware that Monta Loma got shafted and their project ran out of money and left lots of work not done and some things poorly done.

I am also aware that this time it will be Stevenson that gets the shaft because all the Measure G money will be gone before anything gets done for Stevenson. The Board will find alternative source of money to build a NEW Slater, but still, Stevenson will be the last school to get improvements.

Assuming the Board does not ultimately totally close Stevenson and force about 400 families from all over the district to commute to the newly built Slater.

Stevenson has all the same problems with our very old facilities of any of the other schools, and worse. Our classrooms are all under-sized, we have the fewest classrooms, the smallest library, smallest MUR, smallest administration building, fewest bathrooms and we still love our school and our location.

Maybe the Stevenson teachers need to go public like the Bubb teachers did.
Msg board comments aren't going to do a single solitary thing no matter how long and thought out they were.
The (Official) squeaky wheel gets the grease.

@Well of Another Mountain View Neighborhood

"Maybe the Stevenson teachers need to go public like the Bubb teachers did.
Msg board comments aren't going to do a single solitary thing no matter how long and thought out they were.
The (Official) squeaky wheel gets the grease."

I think you missed the point, for Stevenson, our facilities are bad for many reasons, but being forced out because the Board decides to close Stevenson and reassign our kids to Slater is the big disaster we are fighting to avoid.

It would be nice to get our decaying and wildly outdated facilities modernized, but first we have to make sure our school will be allowed to remain open. Once we have secured the future of Stevenson PACT to even exist, then we will see what if anything can be done to improve the facilities.

Certainly nothing from Measure G will be spent on repairs to Stevenson.
We will need a new bond to fix Stevenson, but who knows when that may take place.

Ah, I see. That's a totally different topic for another discussion. Would like to stay focused on the topic in the story rather than the side issue of Stevenson PACT.
You can create a thread appropriate to that issue to begin that discussion.
Good luck