HARLEM — Time stands still at P.S. 242.
Despite a year of complaints and assurances from the Department of Education that the the elementary school's clocks would be fixed, none of them operate properly and haven't since September 2013.
When DNAinfo New York first reported the story at the end of last school year, in June 2014, the DOE said the clocks would be fixed over the summer. But when the first day of school rolled around in the fall, the clocks still had not been fixed.
When asked about the clocks again in September 2014, DOE spokeswoman Marge Feinberg said they were, “being completed expeditiously.”
In January, when students returned to class from winter break, the clocks still had not been fixed, parents said.
“To my knowledge, none of the clocks have been fixed,” said P.S. 242 parent Theresa Hammonds, who is more disappointed than angry by the amount of time it has taken to resolve the issue.
“I wouldn’t categorize parents as being upset. We are however interested to know when the work will be done. Obviously we have become accustomed to waiting for the slow-moving wheel to turn. We saw this as an easy fix. Obviously it isn’t.”
When asked about the clocks this week, DOE spokesman Harry Hartfield said, "We replaced half of the school's clocks and are right now working with the manufacturer to replace the remaining clocks."
The school's public address system, which had been broken since September 2013, has also been fixed, Hartfield added.
However, a DOE employee who is familiar with the issue said that is not the case. While the PA system has been repaired, the clocks have not, the source said.
“That is not accurate. None of the clocks have been fixed,” said a Department of Education employee who was not authorized to give his name. “It was supposed to get done over the summertime. Now it’s January and it still hasn’t been fixed.”
When asked when the clocks were fixed, Hartfield could not produce a date.
The clocks and how long they’ve been ignored is a poor reflection of a school that’s suppose to be teaching students how to tell time, the DOE source said.
“It throws the students off,” the source said. “If they have to be at the gym at 1 p.m. how can they know if they are late?”
Teachers and school safety officers have stopped relying on the clocks and bring their own watches to school, the source added.
In October, PS 242 gained the prestigious International Baccalaureate status. The IB certification puts the school, located at West 122nd Street and Lenox Avenue, on par with some of the most elite private schools in the city. Each P.S. 242 teacher had to get individually certified during the three-year process.
"We are the pioneers of the public school system," the school's principal Denise Desjardin told DNAinfo in October. "We’re very happy that we were able to accomplish it."
Desjardin declined to talk about the clocks during the interview in the fall. She was not available to comment Friday, a school official said.
