I was very worried that I or one of my pre-kindergarteners was going to trip over the loosening tiles in my classroom floor and suffer a bad fall. It was becoming a dangerous situation until the UFT stepped in.
At first, it was just a cracked tile here and there. But then they started popping up, one or two at a time. I reported the problem to my school’s maintenance staff each time, and they patched things up.
After we returned to school buildings in September 2020, the problem grew worse. I was tripping over loose tiles more and more and noticed that the floor under the popped tiles was wet and rotting so I added the danger of mold to my worries.
When I realized the quick fixes were not the solution to a dangerous and growing problem, I spoke to my chapter leader. The next day Ashley Rzonca, the UFT’s District 30 representative, was in my classroom checking the floor. Within minutes, she was on the phone to the UFT Health and Safety Department. And, within days, I had a new floor.
The floor looks great now, and I’m so pleased. I had to be sure the classroom was safe for my students.
The UFT was right on point.
Trisha Donnelly is a pre-K teacher at PS/IS 127 in East Elmhurst, Queens.
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