The elevator in the academic building has had major issues since the end of the 2022-2023 school year. The building that students spend most of their time in during the school day is around 36 years old and has been host to many inconveniences over that time. Things such as heating and air conditioning as well as asbestos in the walls have plagued students. Being the oldest building in the school, huge structural revamps need to be made in order for students to go about their normal school schedule. The issue has recently escalated when AISD officials have made it clear that the elevator problem will not be fixed during the current school year at all.

This means the school administration has to tackle the problem by themselves, without district support. They then decided that the best route to take is to move all of the teachers, who have injured or disabled individuals in their classes, from their upstairs classrooms downstairs. This means that all the teachers downstairs have to be removed from their classes for their short and valuable planning periods. The elevator breaking has left half of B-hall and the majority of E-hall evicted from their classrooms and reasonably upset about the situation.

The district funding should be focused on the older buildings that need repair, especially when a functioning elevator is a necessity for many students, and is also required for the school to be in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Workers have just now started preparing to fix the elevator over the summer, despite problems since last year. Students shouldn’t have to give up fundamental functions of the building if they have a disability based on something that’s out of their control. Many of the staff members who are located downstairs are also being negatively affected by the elevator’s lack of regular functionality.

Due to the district’s inadequate consideration, many of the teachers in the downstairs wings are being removed from their own classrooms, which is unfair because it is taking up their own time to be productive. Relocation of the classes makes it difficult not only for the teachers but them makes it hard for students who need to leave campus to be found.

This, in turn, causes a major waste of time for aides to search out the right classroom and is especially problematic for students who might have appointments. ​​

The classes that are being relocated to downstairs wings due to their injured or disabled students have decreasing productivity due to the adjustments having to be made when constantly moving the class resources to different locations.

A good working elevator needs to be of higher priority to the district because it’s a necessity for the school building to be functional. If the academic building has two stories there needs to be a quick and efficient way for students with disabilities or injuries to get from floor to floor with ease. The district should have an emergency fund, which would be funded by the surrounding areas’ tax dollars that should be allocated to the schools in their district.

So, that when the older school buildings develop issues they can be fixed in a timely manner. This should happen as a standard across the whole district because many older schools have recurring issues that need to be prominently fixed.

It should be something that’s given to the district to fix very needed amenities of the buildings. This should be for huge, sudden issues especially so the individual school doesn’t have to find alternate less practical solutions to the problem.

Another reason the elevator is a major issue is because it denies students the ability to access the whole building. Before the school came up with the relocation of the classrooms certain injured and disabled students weren’t able to attend their upstairs classes at all. Most were regulated to the library and had to wait for teachers to get their work to them. This lack of access to their teachers is affecting student’s grades unfairly, due to a situation out of their control.

The elevator needs to be fixed because students, teachers, and school administrators shouldn’t have to make notable changes to their busy work weeks because of something that’s out of their control. The issue that happens to be against the ADA Act has gone on since the 2022-2023 school year and has had more than enough time to be fixed. This issue has continued to spiral due to the district’s refusal to make the requested repairs. The issue is unacceptable and can’t be continually ignored.