METHUEN — Over the summer the school and city pooled resources to spruce up the public school buildings, which have been at times home to mice and mold.
The collaboration has happened despite legal conflicts between the city and schools over the district’s IT department and sometimes contentious public meetings over other issues. The recent effort also followed a concerning report before the summer that showed that conditions at the Tenney Grammar School had gotten worse months after thousands of dollars was spent on cleaning.
The district has enlisted assistance from the Department of Public Works and the Board of Health and on Monday Superintendent Brandi Kwong and Mayor D.J. Beauregard discussed the collaboration during the School Committee meeting.
They said it has included bringing together city and school leaders in a task force made up of the lead custodian at the Timony Grammar School, School Committee members, district officials, teachers, city health inspectors and DPW Director Patrick Bower.
Issues with sanitary conditions at the school’s building have been a major issue in the district ever since they became widely known in the community last winter. There were numerous reports of rodent feces in classrooms all over the district.
Committee member Mary Beth Donovan-Grassi said the group has been meeting all summer with a clearly defined purpose and have had “healthy conversations.” She said much of the success was due to Health Inspector Darren Dee.
School Committee member Daniel Shibilia said conversations between the city and school on issues like this have never happened before.
“This is a step in the right direction,” he said.
Methuen Education Association union co-presidents Sue Pierce and Kara Blatt, who have also been involved in the process, had positive news to report, too. They said the reporting systems for sanitary issues is more transparent now and there has been more collaboration that has included weekly meetings in August.
Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Ian Gosselin said the district uses online reporting to keep track of cleanliness issues which the city’s contractor, Pest End, makes use of.
However, Blatt added that as they dig deeper into the issues they discover more problems which have never been addressed before.
Kwong praised the work of city staff including health inspectors and echoed similar thoughts.
“The buildings are old and every time we turn the corner there is something else we see,” she said.
A report on the work alludes to a “change in the senior custodian and a change in some regular custodial crew” at the Tenney Grammar School.
On Monday member Kristen Maxwell criticized the district for a shake-up in staff and said custodians are being blamed when management is the issue.
Some officials have also been critical of the city’s contractor Pest End. Kwong reported that the city has been looking for quotes for a potential new contractor. Shibilia said the work done by the city’s contractor Pest End has so far been only reactive to problems that already exist.
While the city has been involved in the clean up this summer, Beauregard said the DPW doesn’t have the extra staff to tackle issues inside the classroom.
Outside work has included clearing trees in the center courtyard at the Timony Grammar School that have been vectors for rodents.
Additionally, teachers have been allowed to come in during the entire month of August to work on cleaning out their classrooms, according to a written report. Kwong said there are also “new protocols and processes” that will be in place at all five schools.
“We want to start the year making sure we are all doing our part,” she said.
The first day of school is Wednesday, Aug. 27.