Since the start of the 2025 school year, both students and faculty have had to struggle with the faulty elevator. It runs between the 1st and 4th floor and seemingly stops at random, breaking down six times in the month of October alone.
The elevator has a history of trapping people inside or stranding them on a floor with no safe way to get to their next class.
“Essentially, it makes the most concerning noises, and then after a little while of making concerning noises, it will stop and you don’t know what’s happening,” says Lex Zain (‘27). “Sometimes it opens the door, and sometimes it doesn’t, sometimes you’re stuck in it.”
The elevator concerns many students and impacts their ability to get to class. Teachers have attempted to accommodate for this, either by helping disabled students up or down the stairs, or by bringing course material to students who have gotten stuck on other floors.
“I carried two students’ bags down for them as they butt scooted down the stairs,” says Carley.
“I think it is not okay that the students in our school are not able to make it to their classes to learn,” says Bartholomew. “I cannot even imagine the feeling of being stuck on a floor and unable, without injuring yourself or greatly inconveniencing yourself, to just move in your school.”
The elevator malfunctions have also impacted students’ attendance.
“I had probably over 30 tardies one trimester of AP Environmental Science last year,” said Zain (’27), “If you get stuck in it, there’s really no excuse that you can give people because you’re just stuck in it. Sometimes you have reception to text people, ‘Hey, I’m in the elevator right now,’ but sometimes you don’t.”
As of publication of this article, the elevator has shut down a total of 15 times this school year. For every shut down, a work order is placed, with the district usually fixing the issue within a day. However, those quick repairs are only temporary solutions. The elevator needs to be replaced, for the sake of the students trying to learn and the teachers.
Delsie Sissoko, Skyline administrator in charge of building operations, says the elevator may be replaced over the summer of 2026. However there is no date for when construction is supposed to begin.
“These particular elevators are not produced by companies anymore. The parts are harder to source because the elevator is no longer made,” says Sissoko. “The district has been aware since I’ve been here at Skyline. This is my sixth year, the elevator has been unreliable for most of the years that I’ve been here.”
This distrust of the elevator affects class plans as well, with teachers who require students to do work outside having to rework lesson plans because their students can’t get up or down the stairs.
“As a Botany teacher, we go outside a lot, and the amount of times that I have had to completely change my plan because the students in my classroom cannot safely get outside and then back upstairs to my classroom,” says Bartholomew, “I mean, it’s happened at least five times this trimester.”
There is, of course, a financial reason behind the delay in replacing the elevator. “It is extremely expensive. So you want to get the most that you can out of what you have,” says Sissoko, “But we’re at the point now where the elevator does need to be replaced, and the district’s aware, and they’re working on that.”
