Browning Elementary

R 400.8380 · R 400.8380 Maintenance of premises. (1) The premises must be maintained in a clean and safe condition and must not pose a threat to health or safety. .............................. ..............

On February 12, 2021, I interviewed the complainant who indicated a concern of hanging wires coming from an exterior wall. The wires are near a boiler room exterior wall located between the main school entrance (door #1) and the secondary entrance (door #2) that is used to access the school age before and after school program. The wires are within reach of children. On February 12, 2021, I made an unannounced onsite investigation to Browning Elementary. Upon my arrival I did not observe hanging wires that appeared hazardous. I observed a device that was hanging by wires and laying on an exterior wall of the heat plant building. The wires were attached to the device on one side and the other side of the wires were attached to a metal wall plate. The wire did not appear frayed, split, and did not appear to be hazardous as the ends were capped. During my onsite investigation on February 12, 2021, I interviewed the program director Ms. Deborah Dewilde-Kinsel. She denied that any one expressed any concerns to her about wires hanging from the device and that it could be hazardous to children. This consultant asked Ms. DeWilde-Kinsel to come outside so she could see the area of concern. She stated that she was not aware of the issue and did not 2 have any knowledge of the type of device that was hanging from the exterior building. She indicated that the school age children would only be walking near this area if they are present with parents and under their supervision. This pathway is only used during arrival and departure times and would not be accessible to children unsupervised by their parents. Children enrolled in the early childhood program enter through door #1 which is located before you reach the heat plant building and is therefore not accessible to those children. The designated outdoor play area for school age children is in the rear of the school building, and the early childhood outdoor play area is on the opposite side of the school building and not in the area near the heat plant building. During the onsite investigation, this consultant also interviewed the school principal Lou Misovski regarding the allegations. Mr. Misovski stated that someone also contacted the district regarding the same issue which was shared with him on February 4, 2021. He immediately put in a work order with the maintenance department to come out and make an assessment. On February 8, 2021 it was determined that the mounting unit for the device got damaged and needed to be replaced. Once it is replaced it will allow the device to rest flush against the building instead of hanging by the wires. The mount was not immediately available in their warehouse and they are awaiting the delivery, so it can be installed. Mr. Misovski escorted this consultant to the area of concern to ensure we were speaking of the same area. This was the same area that this consultant initially observed upon my arrival. Mr. Misovski confirmed that the device is a temperature sensor. Its purpose is to measure the outside temperature which causes the boiler to turn on/off. He touched the device and showed this consultant that the wires were capped and there is no live electricity coming from the wires that could cause harm to anyone if it were accidentally touched. Mr. Misovski further added, "I'm concerned about the safety and well-being of everyone, especially my students. Sadly, I cannot control how quickly things get delivered, but I'm doing everything in my power to immediately address this issue."

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R 400.8380 · R 400.8380 Maintenance of premises. (1) The premises must be maintained in a clean and safe condition and must not pose a threat to health or safety. .......................

On February 12, 2021, I interviewed the complainant who indicated a concern over the safety of the gate. The gate is not in good repair and is falling down. Often times the gate is left open and not secured. The complainant further added that children are wearing masks due to the pandemic and can bump their heads by running into the gate and can injure themselves. The district sent out a supervisor to access the situation, but nothing has been done about the safety concern. During my onsite investigation on February 12, 2021, I observed the gated area near the sidewalk. There were chain link fences along the sidewalk area. In the middle of the chair link fences are two arm barrier gates that have the ability to swing open and are facing each other. These two arm gates were chained together and were not open upon my arrival. I did not see any gates that were falling down, hazardous, or appearing to not be in good condition. There were two signs posted on the gates. One sign read no stopping, standing, and parking. The other sign read district vehicle parking only. During my onsite investigation on February 12, 2021, I interviewed Ms. Dewilde- Kinsel regarding her knowledge of any complaints of the fence falling down or not being in good repair. She denied being informed of any hazards involving the fence. She recalled being informed by a grandmother during drop off time of an incident involving a father of a child enrolled in the before school program using profanity towards her because of the way she was parked near the open gate. There was another incident with this same parent who was parked near the gates in the bus loop area and was asked to move by the Bemis Middle school principal (who shares the same parking lot as Browning Elementary) because he was blocking and impeding the busses from accessing the area. The parent got so belligerent that security had to escort him off of the premises. During my onsite investigation, I also interviewed Mr. Misovski regarding this allegation. He indicated that Browning Elementary had been closed for face-to-face instruction due to the pandemic until they recently re-opened January 25, 2021. The only children present in the building were the school age children enrolled in the before and after school program who were attending full day to obtain assistance with online learning. During the time of the school closure there were deliveries being made by maintenance and food service vendors who would utilize the gates and would forget to lock the gates back-up. Once school resumed there were a few times when the delivery drivers would forget to close the gates back-up. Once this was brought to his attention on February 4, 2021, he immediately sent out an email to all departments to remind staff about securing the gates upon arrival and departure. He has obtained chains to keep the gates locked. There were signs posted to identity the area as being accessible only to district employees and to 4 remind others that it is a restricted area. Mr. Misovski further added that at no time were the fences falling down, hazardous, or not in good repair.

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