While my history of Pacific was largely written objectively, researching Pacific made me feel a wide variety of emotions, ranging from joy and delight (staff members who cared about their students, students doing a good job learning independence, correspondence written by students indicating their ability), to pure disgust and sadness. (When they "repaired" Pacific to be reopened eight days after the fire, they put a "temporary" roof over existing ceiling joists. They sealed off the burned floor on one side with a standard interior wall. The other side was sealed off simply by locking the fire doors.)
When a typical person thinks of a notable secondary school in Seattle, they probably think of a school known for its band. They probably think of a school known for sports teams. They probably think of a school known for getting into fights with other schools. They might think of a school known for an architectural amenity, or theater/arts programs. But, unless they had a relative who attended Pacific, or grew up in the neighborhood, a typical student of 1940-1975 would have no reason to be aware of Pacific. This means Pacific is at severe risk of being forgotten. Like Pacific's students, there is the huge risk of Pacific falling through the proverbial cracks. Pacific's triumphs in special education, and the discriminatory attitudes that meant Pacific was forced to occupy one of the worst school buildings in the city. The attitudes that thought a new Teachers' Lounge and cafeteria were more important than additional student restrooms. The attitudes that made female students climb three flights of stairs to use the restroom. The attitudes that meant a school operated without an intercom system, or phones in the twenty portables brought to the site after the fire. The caring teachers. The principals who felt it was equally important to build confidence as academic and vocational skills. The fact that Pacific helped numerous students with disabilities reach employment and gain independence. And, the fact that Pacific's faculty was able to do all of this in a building that should have been replaced after the fire.
Growing up in Special Education classes, as a student, I was well-aware of inherent inequities experienced by Special Education classes, especially at the hands of District bureaucracies. One of my Special Education classrooms had a furnace that was largely decorative (it also made noise, and occasionally heat.). It was in a portable with hardwood floors, that was likely built around 1950. It was structurally sound, and the roof did not leak. A major lesson I learned was that Special Education teachers have a remarkable amount of dedication to their students, and that the District rarely gives the Special Education departments enough funding.
My research on Pacific School, especially how the District handled the repairs to the building reminded me so much of my dedicated teachers. When I read the correspondence in the Superintendent's Correspondence folders at the District Archives, I remembered another phenomena that the Seattle School District frequently engaged in--the people who are affected the most are usually the last to be made aware. In the case of the Pacific Building, the head of the Special Education department and the principal of Pacific had never been told about the inspection by the Department of Buildings, the fact that the Mayor was involved, or that the building was considered unsafe in the event of a moderate earthquake.
I honestly cannot imagine how furious any parents I know would be if they knew that their children were being taught in a building that the Building Department thought was likely to collapse in a moderate earthquake. I cannot imagine how furious they would be if they knew that there was only one boys' bathroom, and one girls' bathroom. I cannot imagine how depressed students would be to attend school in a building with an entire floor of boarded up windows, with a roof that frequently leaked, in a building with damp ceilings and chipped paint.
Would students without disabilities have been forced to attend classes in a building with visibly charred brick, two bathrooms, and no intercom systems? Would students without disabilities have needed to potentially walk on all fours to reach a restroom that is over sixty stairs above ground level because no accessible facility exists? Would any other school have a girls' bathroom as the sole occupied space of a condemned floor? Would students without disabilities have had to wait nine years for a new school after a fire? I think the answer is probably quite clear.
The fact that the District's official history of Pacific School mentions almost nothing about the Special Education program at Pacific, even though they have volumes of records related to it, speaks volumes to me.
I found several heroes in the story of Pacific School. These include Renee Nowak, president of the Pacific PTSA who was incredibly vocal in her concerns, Mayor Wes Uhlman, who emphasized the importance of inspecting Pacific, Constantine Angelos, for bringing awareness to the support and care given by the Pacific program, and the architectural barriers provided by the Pacific building.
No comments:
Post a Comment