My office found that many schools are not meeting State standards for cleanliness and maintenance, exposing children to unsafe and unhealthful conditions that can affect their academic success.
For example, we found improperly stored hazardous cleaning supplies in multiple schools we visited. We also observed among the schools we visited leaky roofs, structural deterioration, stained ceiling tiles, and fire safety issues, such as classrooms with missing fire extinguishers.
We noted that schools lack a funding source dedicated to facilities maintenance because the school funding formula is based solely on attendance and student characteristics. We recommend that the Legislature consider developing a funding category for maintenance separate from the current school funding formula.
We also found that oversight of school facilities needs improvement. Using the same Facility Inspection Tool FIT that schools use to evaluate facility conditions, my office generally scored the schools lower than the schools scored themselves on their School Accountability Report Cards, and our FIT scores were generally lower than those from their respective county Offices of Education. Because the report cards are a way for the school to provide information on school conditions to the public, there may be an incentive for schools to rate themselves generously.
Additional oversight of this process is necessary. Finally, we identified potential improvements to the FIT itself so that it will better reflect school conditions and be a better means of communicating information on school cleanliness and maintenance to the public.
