Glendale schools ban teachers' personal coffeepots and fridges

[The Straight Story]

Glendale schools ban teachers' personal coffeepots and fridges

District officials say removing appliances such as microwaves and coffee makers will save $60,000 a year. The ban has upset some teachers who depend on the items to get through their day.
By Raja Abdulrahim
(CA) March 3, 2009

When the bell rings at 7:15 a.m. at Glendale's Roosevelt Middle School, Sharon Schara begins teaching a remedial math class. Throughout the day, she leads 120 students through the maze of math and often works through lunch. And, after the last bell rings, she might remain in her classroom for hours into the evening with members of the Robotics Club.

Beside her desk in the rear corner sit a refrigerator and microwave that give her easy access to Lean Cuisines, water and the four colas she often drinks to make it through the day.

Schara, like some of her colleagues at Roosevelt and other schools, depends on having easy access to food and snacks since she can't leave students unattended and the teachers lounge is at least a five-minute walk from her bungalow.

But as part of a new energy policy in the Glendale Unified School District, teachers must remove most personal appliances from their classrooms.

The rule was approved as part of a broader energy policy last summer, and district officials say cutting those appliances will save $60,000 per year. The wider program has saved $2 million, the district said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/education/la-me-appliances3-2009mar03,0,3863348.story

[kestrel91316]

1. Funny, when I was a kid I don't remember any of my teachers having

coffeemakers or fridges in their classrooms. HOW DID THEY EVER SURVIVE????

[WinkyDink]

4. Smaller school? A 5-minute walk to the Teachers' Lounge is a half-mile R/T.

Oh, and you weren't a Remedial student who couldn't be left unattended, right?

READ THE OP.

[kestrel91316]

12. Pack lunch in a mini cooler.? Do without the coffee until break time?

Sheesh. Some people are helpless. Simple solutions don't take much in the way of brains. Teachers don't ALL need coffeemakers and fridges. $60k worth of electricity is a LOT.

[Deja Q]

2. Gee, who peed in the administrator's decaf?

[Thickasabrick]

5. LOL.!!!

Jesus, we pay teachers shit and now we are going to take away their few little comforts? This absolutely blows.

[WinkyDink]

6. And did they ban junkets for him and his peers? I'm taking bets.

[Peace Patriot]

3. Cut one useless, overly-paid adminstrator and you've saved just as much.

Save the teachers' coffee and lunches! Get rid of a meddling paper-pusher!

Problem solved.

[WinkyDink]

7. THREE times as much.

[Starry Messenger]

8. Oh, hell.

That really is the pits. I hope this doesn't spread around. I totally depend on those appliances in my classroom. I am right next to the cafeteria, but I work so much through lunch and breaks that 3 times out of 4 I never get in there when there is hot food. And I am really far away from the break room. :(

[eppur_se_muova]

9. So running the microwave in the Teacher's Lounge instead saves energy HOW?

And is one bigger fridge in the Lounge instead of several smaller ones necessarily more efficient, if it's going to be opened more often?

[SoCalDem]

10. Teachers have their own coffeemakers & microwaves in their classrooms??

..We had drinking fountains at the end of each hallway on each floor and the teachers had their own lounge.. I assume they had a fridge & coffeepot..

Sounds like a way to save some money for the district.. Of course letting some fat-casts go too, sounds like another way to save even more:)

Gove the teachers a free period, so they can go have a cup of coffee and lunch:) That used to work:)

[wavesofeuphoria]

11. A similiar ban was imposed at our school in January ...

I really question the cost of energy that is cited. Doesn't seem realistic.

[FLyellowdog]

13. Come on peeps...

our POTUS has asked us all to pitch in and do our part. If giving up the fridge and oven will help the economy by allowing other teachers to keep their jobs, what's to argue about? Our school district just announced yesterday they will be cutting out 270 instructional jobs and 130+ support personnel from approximately 3000 or so teachers total. Times are tough...These luxuries are nice, but when I started my teaching career, we weren't even allowed to eat in our rooms OR a lounge...we had to eat with our students everyday in the cafeteria. Times have changed of course, but they are changing again. Sacrifice is good for the soul. Hopefully we will pull out of these dire times in the not so distant future.