Petition started by Wake Forest Elementary parents sparks heating fixes at school

WAKE COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- Fixes to heating issues are coming to Wake Forest Magnet Elementary School after parents say a petition circulated in the community caught the attention of district leaders.

Parents said heating and cooling issues plagued the school off and on for years, including a few chilly days in December when heating in part of the building stopped working.

Families reached out to ABC11 after the Wake County Public School System's facilities committee meeting last week.

The meeting featured discussion of heating and cooling upgrades coming to schools across the district.

During last week's meeting, district officials revealed the list of nearly two dozen schools getting heating and cooling upgrades.

Not on the list was Wake Forest Elementary School.

Stacey Coffman has had two children go to Wake Forest Elementary.

"How do we understand as parents why, why is our school not on that list? Help us to understand why our school's not on that list," said Coffman.

She could not believe the cold conditions students and teachers went through in December when the heating in part of the school stopped working.

"My kid got in the car after school, and his hands were frozen," she said. "He was like, 'Feel my hands.' And I was like, 'Oh my gosh!' We have kids sitting in classrooms in 50 degrees, and teachers trying to teach in that environment. How is this not an issue?"

She said she sent emails to district officials for years, once her children told her about heating and cooling issues.

"I've included our area school board member, I also included the chair and the vice chair," she said.

After what she and other parents say were years of inaction, the Wake Forest Elementary PTA started a petition.

The petition called on WCPSS leaders to fix the heating and cooling problems, gaining more than 200 signatures from parents at the school.

In a letter to families on Wednesday, school and district officials said a fix is coming next week, saying the following in part:

"Earlier this month, one of the school's three boilers failed. This boiler serves the wing of our campus that houses our specials classrooms (Art, Music, Spanish and Mandarin), one Pre-K classroom and the gym. The other two boilers serving other areas of the school remain operational.

"Capital replacement projects are prioritized based on age, condition assessments, safety considerations, and available funding. While this boiler was nearing the end of its useful life, several others across the district are older and in more critical condition and are addressed first as part of our long-range facilities plan."

Coffman said she and other parents want to know why it took creating a petition to spark this action.

"I'm just curious what the criteria is for that decision-making," she said.

District officials said that the new boiler work begins Monday and could take nearly a week to fully replace.

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