For Safety's Sake, a Little Less Art on School Walls

At P.S. 257 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, teachers used to hang paperwork near the gymnasium, showing examples of their students' finest essays. Now the pale green concrete wall is barren.

Brian DeVale, the school's veteran principal, said he was warned about displays last spring by an inspector from the Fire Department.

"He came to me and he cited some minor concerns, one of which I'd never heard before — which is that no more than 20 percent of your wall space can have things hanging on it that are flammable," he said.

Mr. DeVale said he and his teachers started removing some of the things parents enjoyed seeing when they entered a school. “ 'My Johnny, he came home so happy because his artwork was hung on display,' " he said, giving an example. "Well, something has to go."

The school has tried to limit wall art to specific bulletin boards. Its classrooms are also less decorated than in the past.

Principals at other city public schools also said they were cutting back on some of their classroom displays because of enforcement of fire codes by the city Fire Department.

A Fire Department spokesman, James Long, said the rule against covering too much wall space with combustible materials was not new. "It is all about fire safety, providing a safe environment for students and teachers and anyone else that enters the schools," he said.

But while enforcement levels may not have changed, the number of inspectors has increased. Several units from the Fire Department visit schools to enforce the code, and Mr. Long said there were now 340 fire inspectors, about 50 more than five years ago.

Both city officials and principals said they were being asked by Fire Department inspectors to strip down bulletin boards and other displays, especially in hallways, because of their critical role in evacuating a building. A copy of a letter from Chancellor Dennis M. Walcott to principals about fire safety can be found on the Gotham Schools Web site.

Teachers have taken down the clotheslines, common in city elementary schools, used to hang instructions at students' eye level, about how to write a good essay, for example, or used to displaying artwork.

Eva Irizarry, who teaches fourth grade at the elementary school, said it felt different now.

"It has more of that sterile, office, corporate feel to it when you take down kids' work," she said.

At P.S. 234 in Lower Manhattan, the principal, Lisa Ripperger said, "we did take some things down" after an inspector visited last spring. "There were some mobiles up for a while hanging from ceiling tiles," she recalled. "They probably should have come down anyway."

Ms. Ripperger said the enforcement should not affect her school. "I filter or listen selectively around what makes the most sense for my community and my school," she stated, adding that she believed she can be careful while remaining creative.

Some principals said they weren't taking the code too seriously. But their union has expressed concerns about whether the regulations send a mixed message. The Bloomberg Administration has encouraged teachers and principals to display student work.

"One of the big parts of the balanced literacy program that the city has moved into is celebrating student achievement, celebrating student work," said Mr. DeVale of P.S. 257. "We're very proud, and you want to celebrate children. At the same time, I understand they have a job for safety reasons," he said of the Fire Department.

Chiara Coletti, a spokeswoman for the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators union, said that with more overcrowded schools, "The Chancellor and the Fire Commissioner will need to have an ongoing dialogue."

"The D.O.E. will have to be more understanding if principals cannot provide the kind of lively, student-focused physical environment they have in the past," she said.

Natalie Ravitz, communications director for the city's Department of Education, said the requirements were nothing new.

"Fire codes are there to protect lives," she said. "Sometimes hallways have too much art or paper on the walls and that is a fire hazard."

As for the mixed messages principals may be hearing when they are encouraged to hang their students' work, she said, "We understand that schools are proud of their students' work and we'll work with them to help them safely display it. But our collective goal must be to ensure the safety of our students."

Anna Phillips of SchoolBook and Stephen Nessen of WNYC contributed reporting.