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To get to his bottom-floor classes, one Ragsdale student has to go outside and around the building in his wheelchair.

If it’s raining, football players carry him down the stairs.

The 51-year-old school lacks handicapped facilities and doesn’t have an elevator.

Parent Mary Brooke Guernier is on a crusade to push the Guilford County commissioners to approve funding to complete Ragsdale’s construction project.

Guernier shared photos and made a brief presentation before the board last week .

Class changes mean crowded hallways.

“The school was built 51 years ago for 600 to 800 kids,” Guernier said. “Now, it’s over that at 1,400 kids.”

Lunch means students eat in shifts and must wait to eat their lunch.

“The students are all out in the hall, waiting to get served. ... The kids eat quickly and then go into the commons so other kids have a place to eat,” Guernier said.

Downstairs, “there are only four or five health classrooms and one common area, which (the students) use for physical fitness because they only have one gym,” Guernier said. “It’s the only high school in the county that has one gym.”

That gym has a floor that has buckled from a leak. “What does it cost to fix a roof and gym?” she said. “Money just keeps going out. Money is spent on Band-Aids for things that need to be redone.”

Guernier cited other problems, such as mold, broken steps and floor tiles, paint peeling off doors and exposed, rusting pipes.

“Hats off to the administration, teachers and staff who make a bad situation work,” Guernier said. “It is no way equal to what other kids have in the county. When our kids are competing for the same seats at a public university, they’re not as well equipped.”

Principal Kathryn Rogers said the school has needs but acknowledged there are lots of needs county-wide.

One of the biggest needs is the replacement of outdated technology, Rogers said.

“Everybody has computers, but our electrical systems don’t support new technology,” she said.

She said she is confident the school board will support Ragsdale in continuing the project.

“Money is tough right now, and I understand that, ... but there are so many times you can push a program back,” Jamestown Mayor Keith Volz said.

Volz said the community will be disappointed again if the county doesn’t continue construction. “It’s not very fair or good for future programs,” he said.

Volz urged residents at a recent meeting to contact the commissioners for support.

Guernier said voters have approved school bonds more than once with the understanding that the school would be renovated.

“We’re paying for something that’s not been done with our taxes,” said Sheila Kiser , another Ragsdale parent.

She took photos for Guernier to use in the presentation.

Kiser’s biggest concerns were the overcrowding and lack of handicapped facilities.

Guernier’s son will graduate this year, so she’s not fighting for him, but for future generations.

As a preschool teacher, Guernier knows the future Tigers and wants their school experience to be better.

“I don’t want to tell parents, 'You don’t want your kids to go to Ragsdale,’ so I’m fighting for them. I hope by the time they get to high school, something will be done.”

Contact E.A. Seagraves at 883-4422, Ext. 241, or elizabeth. seagraves@news-record.com