Rat infestation delays start of classes at California high school
An infestation of rats at a high school in Montebello, Calif., forced officials last month to delay the return of students to campus.
The Los Angeles Times reports that teachers reporting to Schurr High School in August to prepare for resumption of classes found dead rats, rat nests and feces in their classrooms.
The Montebello Unified School District notified parents of the 2,600 students at Schurr that the campus would be closed for “the next couple of weeks."
Interim Superintendent Mark Skvarna said in a letter to the community that four environmental companies were working simultaneously on decontaminating all the buildings on the Schurr campus.
In the meantime, the school was distributing Chromebook computers to students and providing them with instruction via a “modified independent studies model.”
In addition to the rat infestation, teachers said the school’s air conditioning system was not working properly. Many of the classrooms have no windows.
District officials say they have closed the school largely out of concern that there might be rodent droppings or other health hazards in the HVAC ducts.
Teachers say they have been complaining about rodents, the lack of working air conditioning and other maintenance problems for a long time.
Mold growth means new facilities for Weed, Calif., school
After discovering some of its buildings were contaminated with black mold, the Weed (Calif.) Elementary District is replacing its only campus.
The Mount Shasta Herald reports that the district shut down the campus after workers uncovered mold in the school's main building, quad rooms and music room.
Other facility problems include the presence of asbestos and lead paint. In addition, some campus buildings are not seismically sound.
Students in grades three to eight, as well as office staff, have moved temporarily into 16 portable classrooms, situated in two rows now known as "The Avenue."
Construction on a new cafeteria and multipurpose room is set to begin soon, and the mold-contaminated buildings will eventually be demolished and a new structure will replace them.
Plans for the new building call for an HVAC system that will provide better ventilation; an outside amphitheater; new separate playgrounds to accommodate different ages; and heated walkways with an overhang for students in snowy weather.
The upgrades are estimated to cost $35.5 million. The district has borrowed $3.5 million to cover part of the cost, and the state of California will contribute $32 million.
New high school in Massachusetts will have wait until October to open
The Central Berkshire (Mass.) Regional District has decided to delay the opening of the new Wahconah Regional High School in Dalton until October.
The $72.7 million school building, on land adjacent to the existing high school, is mostly complete, but construction delays mean the project has not received a certificate of occupancy.
“Procurement of resources has been an ongoing challenge for our construction team despite heroic efforts toward our projected timelines for completion,” Superintendent Leslie Blake-Davis said in a letter to the community. “In consideration of multiple factors that take into account all that is needed (and required) to provide optimum learning spaces, I have made the decision to delay opening the new Wahconah until October 12.”
The Berkshire Eagle reported that one factor preventing issuance of a certificate of occupancy is that the construction team had not yet received signs that will show where handicap emergency exits are at the school.
The delay means that teachers who had already packed up their old classroom in anticipation of the move will have to work out of boxes for a few weeks. On the other hand, the extra time will enable the school staff to provide a more thorough orientation to prepare students for the new school.
