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portables (quokk.au)
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[-] ssfckdt 1 points 10 hours ago

We did not have these in the northeast. At least not at my schools. And my town was po'.

Didn't discover the concept of "portables" until moving to the west coast and was kind of astonished.

[-] winkerjadams@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 9 hours ago

Had these at my middle school in Connecticut. Winter was cold

[-] zod000@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 10 hours ago

Ah, portables. What a wonderfully disappointing memory.

[-] titanicx@lemmy.zip 42 points 1 day ago

In the '80s and 90s? My kids schools still have these. It's called not properly funding your schools.

[-] Maggoty@lemmy.world 29 points 1 day ago

Your school probably still has the same ones. Nothing is more permanent than a temporary solution.

[-] ToffeeIsForClosers@lemmy.world 29 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

They may not be hauling them in around my area anymore but it’s only because they still have them from the 90s.

[-] scintilla@crust.piefed.social 33 points 1 day ago

I'll have you know that they were still putting the "gifted and talented" kids in one of these into the early 2010s.

[-] Speculater@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago

We placed special education students in ours...I was a student and even then thought that was messed up.

[-] Maggoty@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

Ahh yes the heat stroke method of making sure they don't have to worry about moving you up a grade.

[-] slazer2au@lemmy.world 28 points 1 day ago

Look how fancy those ones are with an AC unit on the side. We were lucky to have a fan in qld.

[-] Deceptichum@quokk.au 12 points 1 day ago

Right??? Fucking 45 degrees in the death box.

[-] Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 1 day ago

Came here to say the same :-)

[-] InvalidName2@lemmy.zip 12 points 1 day ago

The ones I went to school in were nowhere near as nice looking on the outside as the ones in this photo.

Ours had HVAC, unlike some of the other comments, but where I live in the USA we have laws regarding the minimum and maximum allowable temperatures so I guess that's why. Still sucked because these things would get uncomfortably hot and muggy during hot weather, but at least we were out of school most of the summer sparing us from the worst of it.

On the other hand, our "mobile classrooms" didn't have bathrooms and only one tiny window that doubled as a fire escape.

The communal bathrooms were on the other side of the school, so the teachers would be very choosy about who they'd let go and what reasons qualified during instructional time. Scheduled bathroom breaks meant the whole class walked over to the restroom area and everybody had to go all at once.

There was a water dispenser machine with 1 oz paper cups (super tiny, basically a shot glass size) and there was a ridiculously low and strict limit on how many "cups" of water each student was allowed each day (I don't recall, but maybe 2 or 3).

Anyway, I have some family still living in the area where I attended school back in the ancient times whose kids who go to that same school. 30 years later and it is still basically a trailer park of mobile classrooms. So, it seems several generations beyond just 80's and 90's kids get to experience the joy of these things!

[-] Crashumbc@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago

I mean TBF, most neighborhoods have a cyclical bump in the number of children. Or did at least. This is more cost effective than having a half empty "new" school in 15 years.

Although I think the current trend is to build bigger schools and bus the kids. So there would be less local variation.

[-] Maggoty@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

If we weren't so allergic to having adults around campus that would just be a place we could do stuff like ESL classes or EMT certification, etc...

The idea that we can only use schools for kids is a classic first world problem.

[-] Crashumbc@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

Some schools do, but you're right. The buildings are way under utilized.

[-] technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Well it's not like anything is "cost effective" under capitalism. The system is literally destroying the planet so a few worthless dickheads can have yachts.

Just give the kids a decent building with some windows/AC. It is literally nothing compared to the privilege of actual scumbags. The school-to-prison pipeline is real enough. No need to rush it.

[-] BossDj@piefed.social 14 points 1 day ago

Ah so your schools don't still have them?

[-] IphtashuFitz@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

My elementary school had 3 “portable classrooms” back in the 70s.

My elementary school still has 5 of these

[-] technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 day ago

Shameful. Putting kids in shacks while we waste our lives serving capital so some worthless dickhead can have a yacht.

[-] Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 6 points 1 day ago

I think ours were unheated. I remember that is where I learnt what shivering is.

[-] Someonelol@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 day ago

Did you know those AC units are the perfect height for their sharp lower corners to reach the top of a kid's skull? I ended up learning that fact the hard way.

[-] stiffyGlitch@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

trailer park children is absolutely crazy

[-] omgboom@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 day ago

I drove by my elementary school a year or two ago and those same buildings were still there lol

[-] ItCantBeThatEasy@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

I completely forgot that was a thing.

this post was submitted on 11 Dec 2025
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