By Sameeha Jilani
Theme Editor
New classrooms for Mira Costa Spanish teachers Mike Cook, Felise Shapiro and Sandra Martinez-Sellan address some of the issues present in the current classroom reassignment, but ultimately introduce a host of new problems, including miscommunication, concerns about unnecessary technology and lack of functioning air conditioning units.
Throughout the past two weeks, foreign language teachers have been introduced to new classrooms in the remodeled finger buildings. This fall, the old science classrooms were divided into three new foreign language rooms to increase capacity, and teachers are expected to move in at the end of January.
According to Costa Principal Dr. Ben Dale, Spanish classroom assignments were a collaborative decision between himself, the department heads and the teachers. However, according to several Spanish teachers, the Costa administration did not inform them that the rooms had different layouts with fewer windows. This has resulted in teachers’ dissatisfaction with this difference in class design because it creates a constricting learning and teaching atmosphere and lacks the proper cross ventilation.
Clearly there has been miscommunication between the administration and the Spanish teachers regarding the amount of construction details provided to the Spanish teachers, and going forward, the two parties need to find some sort of middle ground to find an agreeable solution.
As of now, the new finger classrooms will not have fully functioning air conditioning for up to a year after teachers move in. According to Foreign Language Department co-chair Kimberly Romero, the teachers’ main concern is how hot the rooms may get during warmer months of the year.
The teachers are working with the administration to see if air conditioning units can be installed sooner. Some Spanish teachers have stated that this lack of air conditioning and proper ventilation could have been avoided with proper appropriation of funds.
Furthermore, according to Romero, many agree that the district did not take the wishes of the Spanish teachers into serious consideration when designing the rooms.
According to Shapiro, the foreign language teachers specifically requested that the district not place eno boards in the new rooms, since they would not be useful in a language class. However, eno boards, which are notoriously expensive to maintain and repair, were still installed in the new classrooms.
Miscommunication between the Spanish teachers and the district as well as the Costa administration seems to be a reoccurring problem, specifically when dealing with construction issues.
With constant miscommunication, going forward, the administration should try to more clearly establish that cooperation is welcome, in order to effectively consider or execute the Spanish teachers’ recommendations on how to improve the new classrooms. In addition, with the ongoing construction, the administration as well as all teachers with complaints or concerns need to communicate their plans effectively for the new classrooms to accommodate Costa’s needs. In order to do so, the teachers should share their concerns independently with the architects, who could then offer reasonable solutions to accommodate the ideas of teachers as well as the administration.
The results of the remodeled classrooms in the finger buildings reveal a lack of communication between the administration and teachers. If the changes are made to solve the current communication issues, the ongoing construction will likely go more smoothly. Not only will the suggested changes improve the learning experiences of students in these classes, but it will also help the administration understand what the teachers regard as necessities in their newly built classrooms.
According to Mira Costa vice principals Debra Hoffreiter, Ian Drummond and Jamie Mancilla, Dr. Dale has worked by himself with help from architects throughout the entire construction process in the finger buildings. This is concerning considering such a large development was handled with little collaboration among the Costa administration. Surely the additional help from vice principals and other administrative members would have been beneficial in fulfilling the needs of all parties effected by the construction.
Better communication between the faculty and the administration needs to be prioritized or dissatisfaction with the construction will persist.
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