Similar to the students and teachers who change classroom environments, furniture around campus is periodically replaced as well. Sometimes, the furniture finds a new home, but other times, it is piled up outside, waiting to be discarded.
Since furniture is not given its own funds on a yearly basis, administration and faculty rely on large windfalls that rarely come through. Principal Gregory Shelby shared that the last large budget of around $300,000 for furniture was given to SCHS about seven or eight years ago.
“We have not got a single dime since, and I have to find alternate sources,” Shelby said. “Sometimes we can use money in our budget at the end of the year. Sometimes I can buy a handful of small things, but it’s very minimal. We have to take advantage of those rare opportunities where we get some one-time funds.”
While furniture can be used for years, replacements still occur. With the revenue from the windfall, many of the squared desks were replaced with triangle ones due to their durability.
“We’ve been having to throw out far more of the old school desks, where the chair and the desk are connected. Those break at a higher rate, which is part of one of the reasons why we like the triangle desk more – part of it is just they’re newer, but they actually are a little bit more stable,” Shelby said.
SCUSD Director of Maintenance, Operations and Transportation Adam Florez mentioned the safety concerns that come with squared desks. Due to there being a bar connecting the chair and desk, mobility is limited, prioritizing its removal from classrooms.
“In the case of a fire or something like that, you couldn’t get out of one side of the desk,” Florez said. “That’s not safe, so they started getting rid of all this old furniture because it’s what’s called non-compliant anymore. That’s the kind of stuff that you can’t reuse.”
Along with district budgets that bring in new furniture to replace old ones, many teachers are constantly getting rid of items in their classrooms. Special Education teacher Shinichi Hirano explained the process of taking out furniture and has insisted on helping the furniture find a new home.
“In the beginning of the year when we come in, the things that we don’t want in our classroom, we just put it out, and then they take it away. Other teachers, if they want something, they can walk around, and if it’s out there, they can take it,” Hirano said. “That’s basically what I tell new teachers to do. If you see something and you want it and it’s laying out there, you go get it.”
Although most furniture is removed when broken or in need of a replacement, the slow disposal process causes discarded items to pile up in visible areas around campus.
“It often looks bad because there’s one particular place where we have where we store our furniture that’s broken that needs to be thrown out. It’s between the C and D wing,” Shelby said. “The problem with that is that we have to wait for someone from the district to come get it, and it’s been a low priority.”
According to Florez, schools must follow a procedure to get rid of items because of their expensive price tags. After campus sites fill out a removal request, the school board must approve the removal before the district can take it out. Due to the long process, Hirano noticed that many of the items which could be put to good use are not available for anyone.
“I’m sure there’s families that could use some of the things that we probably are getting rid of. I just would wish that we would do a better job of supporting others or helping others if they needed something,” Hirano said.
Florez, however, shared how furniture is brought to a district storage room, where it is decided whether the furniture can be given out to others or discarded completely.
“If the furniture is in good working order and it’s in pretty good shape, we either store it or (give it away),” Florez said. “Usually, the scenario is that we’ve already had somebody ask us for furniture we didn’t have, and we say, ‘As soon as we get one and if we get something like it, we’ll give you a call, let you know what it looks like, and if you like it, we’ll give it to you.’”
While there might be a backlog at school sites to decommission usable or broken furniture, Florez assured that the district emphasizes the importance of using items to its fullest potential.
“We do our best to reuse everything. We try to make sure that everybody has what they need within our district,” Florez said. “We’ve even gone so far as more needy school districts, some of the smaller school districts in the area, if they do reach out, if they need stuff, we do our best to try to help them with that as well.”