PORT NECHES, Texas — Port Neches-Groves parents packed the final school board meeting Monday to voice their frustrations about the unfinished schools.
Despite the fact that two campuses are still under construction, the Port Neches-Groves Independent School District is sticking to their plan of starting next week.
The district announced that it will be delaying the start of school for Port Neches Primary and Groves Primary.
Parents and teachers have concerns about everything from construction equipment in hallways to a lack of air conditioning in certain areas. Many parents don't feel comfortable sending their kids back to school.
At the board meeting some parents voiced their concerns.
"New state of the art building, that not only looks beautiful but is also safe and functional, but as of today has not passed fire and health inspections," said one person at the meeting.
"I'll be honest, we feel like we were lied to," said another resident.
They questioned the construction managers about the unfinished state of the new campuses.
"These are conversations that should have been had, six months ago when y'all realized we're behind, we're way behind," another person said out loud.
In response the managers could only apologize.
"We do apologize, and we apologize to the board and Dr. Gonzales that we pushed for the dates, promised the dates, and they just don't happen," said Gordon Lavender from Sedalco Construction.
"I just don't trust anything they say," was the response from someone at the meeting.
Teachers were at the meeting and spoke up as well.
"I am far behind, we haven't had the proper air conditioning to be able to function," said a PNG teacher.
Deedra Young, a concerned parent, kicked off the meeting. She has two students going to Groves Primary.
"Nowhere near a school that looked complete enough, or safe enough, or ready enough for students in less than a week," said Young.
Young took pictures of one of the unfinished school last week.
"There was one toilet functioning while we were there, there's no fire or safety, there's no gym, there's no cafeteria, there's no music, no library, no art," said Young.
Board members declined to comment immediately after the meeting 12News asked for an interview.
Right now, construction managers are sticking to their timeline. But this doesn't assure parents that the schools will be safe for the children to return to.
"It's a really difficult decision, and something that should have been planned, and talked about, months ago," said Young.
School board members say they are going off the word of construction managers. The managers apologized tonight but said they are sticking to their August 21st start date.
They say construction equipment will be stored out of the way during school hours and they will continue construction after classes are done for the day.