No Exit: CVHS elevators prevent escape

 CVHS has an expansive elevator system as you can get to any second floor without stairs. But are the elevators up to standard? Within one month there were at least three people including myself stuck in elevators for over half an hour. 

My experience was on the morning of Nov. 6, I walked into the 700 hall math side elevator around 7 a.m. and left a bit after 8 a.m. I pressed the second-floor option and the doors closed, then after around one minute the elevator had still not moved so I pressed the open door button which also did not work. 

After looking at the variety of emergency buttons I pressed the call operator button, and after a minute of ringing a man picked up on the line and told me that a mechanic would come soon in around 20 minutes and he would call back for an update. After a couple of minutes with the door closed, it felt uncomfortably hot and uncomfortably dry. 

Around half an hour later, I called back and the operator said the same thing. I then received a call from my teacher who went to the office to get a staff member to come and another ten minutes or so later, Assistant Principal Kevin Baker and a mechanic came and got the door open. The 700 hall elevator wouldn’t be fixed for ten days. 

I was not the only one to get stuck in an elevator lately. Students Jason Grayson and Kristian Pereira got stuck in the 900 hall elevator together on Tuesday Oct. 17 between 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. They were only able to get out with the help of the fire department.

“We speculated what would happen if the cable broke,” said Grayson. 

When compared with all the others, the 900 elevator gives a bumpy ride both up and down. Grayson wishes CVHS would “improve elevator overall condition, most are what can be described as sketchy.”

CVHS German teacher Barbara Andersen was also stuck in the 900 hall elevator last school year having to wait for an hour and a half and missing an entire block period in the process. When asked what she did while inside she stated “I read in the elevator” (to pass the time). She alone has had three students stuck over the last year. 

The elevator systems are different across the school. The 400 hall elevator is the newest and it’s also the most used because it does not require a key. Then there are the 900 hall and 700 hall math side elevators that are very similar in function and both require a key. 

The 900 hall cannot be pushed open in an emergency while the 700 hall math side can be. The 900 will also bump or even stop with sudden motions or weight changes. For example, jumping or dropping your backpack in the 900 elevator can and has resulted in a stop either for a few seconds or it getting stuck. 

Were someone with an extreme injury or someone unable to signal for help to have gotten stuck, it could result in permanent bodily harm due to the hot and humid conditions inside. 

“We don’t have any data on the number of students stuck in the elevator, but one student stuck is one too many,” said Principal Chris Fortenberry. 

That’s why the school should invest in the safety of the elevators to prevent this from inevitably happening.