This Philly school building is sorely in need of improvements. Teachers, parents, and kids are demanding better.

Paul Robeson High School has been lauded by Philadelphia School District, city, and national officials alike: singled out for a strong student body, dedicated faculty, and a principal named the country’s best.

But there’s a disconnect between the school and its building.

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Robeson, at 41st and Ludlow in West Philadelphia, lacks any functional ventilation besides windows, and some are nailed shut or don’t open fully, staff say. Its electrical service is so outdated that the school can’t accommodate even window air-conditioning units in most rooms, and the fuse box must often be reset.

Parents, staff, and students gathered at district headquarters Tuesday to push the school system for a timeline for renovations for Robeson, which was built in 1960 as the Catto School.

Ciani Pagan, a Robeson junior, helped organize 250 students — nearly everyone at the small school — to sign a petition saying they “no longer feel safe at school.” Pagan said she’s tired of bathrooms that are often broken and classrooms that are so hot she’s gotten nosebleeds.

“Who would want to go to school there?” said Pagan.

Though it is not among the district’s oldest buildings — some school system structures date back to the 19th century — Robeson is in poor shape, said Dan Reyes, a teacher at the school.

“It essentially has not really been updated” since it was built, Reyes said. “Former students come in and say, ‘This building doesn’t look any different at all.’ That comes with serious health hazards.”

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Classrooms can reach 90 degrees and above in warmer months, and the old heating system makes it tough to regulate temperate year-round, said Reyes. One of his students once passed out because of the heat, he said.

“We do incredible things, but it’s a tough environment to learn in,” said Reyes.

Robeson scored a 32 of 100 on the district’s “facilities condition assessment” scale, a 2017 measure that assessed the state of every building in the district. That ranked it in the middle of the pack for building conditions; schools that scored 60 or above should be slated for replacement, according to the school system’s data.

Staff, parents, and teachers have all circulated petitions calling on the district to fix up the building but said they have received no commitments or even been given a meeting about their concerns.

Mina Quarles is helping lead the charge on the parent side; her daughter, 10th grader Jadyn Quarles, is an honor-roll student who suffers from asthma, and the building conditions worry her, particularly the ventilation situation.

“It’s a very outdated building,” said Quarles. “It’s just not a good, healthy environment.”

About a dozen Robeson parents, staff, and students converged on the district’s North Broad Street headquarters in the rain Tuesday afternoon, walking inside to ask for a meeting with chief operating officer Reggie McNeil.

Jaylynn Torres Green, a Robeson ninth grader, loves her school, but “our building kind of sucks,” the ninth grader said, so she came to speak to people in power.

“The coronavirus is all around; when do the risks become too much for our students?” asked Sherice Workman, a parent and leader of the Robeson School Advisory Council. “We’ve been asking and asking and asking, and all our calls have been unanswered.”

Workman said that at the very least, the school community wants its water tested for lead.

Oz Hill, the district’s deputy chief operating officer, met the group in the lobby and collected the group’s petitions.

“We appreciate your advocacy and we welcome your petitions,” Hill said.

The group asked Hill to respond to their queries by March 4.