Goldsboro High students plead with council to intervene as ‘unsafe’ historic school ‘deteriorates’

Three Goldsboro High School students came to the Goldsboro City Council Monday to ask for help fixing up a school they say once was a source of pride in the city but is now ignored, neglected and unsafe.

Christopher Smith, Desiree Thomas and Maria Newsome, each of whom spoke for three minutes during the council’s public comment period, said they came to the City Council on behalf of their classmates for help getting the attention their school needs — and to share photos and personal accounts of the conditions they see every day.

Mice, mold, wasps, rotting ceilings and floors, roaches, leaks.

Tiles pulling up from the floor and plumbing issues.

Heat that doesn’t function in the winter. Air conditioning that doesn’t cool in the warmer months.

They showed pictures of exposed wood floors with original tile that is falling apart and stained walls, and told stories about cleanliness issues that are so severe that the maintenance staff cannot keep up with them, including a bathroom toilet that has been stopped up for four months.

The conditions are not just an embarrassment, the students said. They are an impediment to learning. And they reflect poorly on the city of Goldsboro.

Smith, Thomas and Newsome, all members of the school’s show choir, which performed at the council meeting, said they were asked by their fellow students to bring the concerns to the council in hopes that council members and the mayor would come tour the school and fight on their behalf with county officials.

“We have problems that people look over because they see Goldsboro High School and they think, ‘Oh, that’s just Goldsboro High’ or “It is so ghetto over there,’” Smith said. “This school is a historic building with some potential safety hazards.”

Thomas said the school used to be well-cared-for and a showpiece in the city.

“But now it is mocked and looked down upon,” she said, adding that the conditions have led to a staffing shortage, too.

“It seems like there are less and less teachers,” Thomas said. “And you may be saying that the reason for that is because the students have no regard for authority, and I completely agree. Some students at my school hold no true accountability for their actions. But part of the problem is that teachers don’t like working in filth.”

The neglect and inattention to the conditions at Goldsboro also raise another concern, Thomas added.

“And I cannot help but to ask myself a question that you should be asking yourselves. Would this be the case if this school was full of kids of a different color?” she said.

In addition to the students’ statements, photos were shown of conditions in the school, including a bucket catching rainwater (for a month, the students said) and a dead bird in a room, as well as the stained/peeling walls and missing or damaged ceiling tiles.

During Smith’s speech to the council members, Councilman Charles Gaylor addressed the students, expressing outrage about the conditions and the state of the high school.

Gaylor said that while he and others would be willing to tour the school to see the conditions firsthand, the city has no authority over the schools or their upkeep.

“But let me know when you take that same speech to the county school board, young man,” Gaylor said. “I will be standing right beside you.”

Mayor Pro Tem Taj Polack thanked the students for their presentation and commended them for coming forward.

The following photos were among those presented to the council. The entire slideshow can be viewed on the “City Government of Goldsboro, NC” Facebook page.