Letter: Kings Road School Restroom Not Clean

Dear editor,

I am currently aware of the passion that exists in connection with the current proposal by Madison Public Schools to outsource the maintenance services in the buildings.

It seems that the outcry of the community has to do with saving the jobs of the custodians that we have come to know, love, and trust.  We are a caring, compassionate community that is concerned for the safety and welfare of our children.

With regard to the safety and welfare of our children, I would like to present another viewpoint in connection with this issue.  Safety and welfare as it applies to the health and well-being of our children.

I am the parent of two children at .  I have been a Girl Scout leader and active participant in the PTO there and have been in the building on numerous occasions during the past six school years.  During this time, I have seen the cleanliness of the building decline, especially the girls’ bathroom.  I am completely appalled at the conditions at Kings Road School.  One recent Friday, while in the building for a Girl Scout meeting, I had the need to use the girls’ restroom in the hall nearest the third grade classrooms.  The restroom appeared to have been just cleaned because the floors were still wet.

As I entered the bathroom and while I was there for the intended purpose, the foul odor was so intense that it was causing me to have to hold back a gag reflex.  The floors looked filthy.  There was still crud in the corners.  I just generally noticed how dirty the floors were.  Due to the horrible odor, I got in and out of the restroom as quickly as possible.  The other condition that is consistent in the restrooms is lack of hot, or even warm, water from the sinks for hand washing.  During my six years at the school, I have never experienced hot water in the children’s bathrooms.  Recently, my children and their friends have told me that there is frequently a shortage of toilet paper and paper towels in the bathrooms.

I have been in the building many times during the years.  I will say that the bathrooms have gotten much worse since a previous custodian was transferred from KRS to the high school.  Since she left, the hall bathrooms are never truly clean.  My children will use them only in cases of extreme necessity.  They complain to me about how bad the bathrooms smell and tell me that they won’t use them.  I have daughters.  I am told that the boys’ bathrooms are much worse.

In addition, other KRS parents and students have told me that the KRS multi-purpose room is also disgusting.  Friends saw food and other debris on the stage.  I have also personally experienced the kitchen at KRS in the past.  It was beyond disgusting.  During the warmer weather, there were ants crawling all over the sink area.  In that condition, I cannot believe the KRS kitchen could possibly pass any health inspection.

I know we have budget issues, but this is a matter of health and sanitation.  The current conditions in the children’s restrooms and the kitchen are completely unacceptable and should not continue.  It is not healthy for children to “hold it” all day because they do not want to use a disgusting bathroom.  It is not healthy for children to be unable to properly wash and dry their hands because there is no hot water and no paper towels.  It is not sanitary for there to be no toilet paper in the bathrooms.  None of this is helping to prevent all of those communicable illnesses that make their way through our lives in cold and flu season.  I have seen many moms that won’t let their children drink from any public water fountain for fear of exposure to germs, yet these are the conditions to which our children are exposed in our schools.

The teachers know the bathroom is disgusting.  How am I sure?  On this particular Friday, I encountered a teacher about to unlock the private faculty restroom as I returned to my troop.  I commented how lucky she was to not have to use the girls’ room.  Her response was “Yea, I know.  It’s really disgusting in there.”  Then she told me where to find a key to the faculty restroom for future use.  If the teachers know, why isn’t this already being addressed?  Why is it okay for our kids to have to use a filthy bathroom when the teachers have other alternatives?

In addition, shortly following my unpleasant restroom experience, a “lost and found” situation with my fifth grader evidenced that the floors in the classrooms are not likely be being swept properly.  On a Monday, she lost trinkets that fell from her backpack.  She found them on the classroom floor on Thursday.  Had the floor been swept, they would not likely have been there.  In this case, the laxness of the cleaning routine was a good thing for my daughter, though it would be preferable if the school were actually cleaned properly on a regular basis.

Frankly, I have a hard supporting the current situation, when these conditions exist.  If we have personal housekeepers that aren’t properly cleaning our homes, do we find that acceptable?  I think not.

If anyone reading this is unaware of such conditions—at least at KRS, I defy you to first, ask your children what they think of the school bathrooms and second, pay the school a visit yourself.  Go take a walk into the student bathrooms (all of them), the stage area of the multi-purpose room, and the kitchen.  They are not what I think anyone would expect to find in a community such as Madison.  This is more than dusty books or window ledges.  At best, it is about unpleasant conditions in the school bathrooms and food areas.  At worst, it’s about unhealthy, unsanitary conditions.

And, for the record, I reported these conditions to the appropriate parties on March 27 and 29.  Students have told me the bathrooms are still unpleasant.

The bottom line is that the schools should be properly cleaned.  At this point, the current standard of maintenance I have experienced is unsatisfactory.  None of our school buildings should have these conditions.

Let’s figure out how to fix the problem.  Is it lack of cleaning supplies?  Is it unmotivated staff and/or supervisors?  Whatever the cause, let’s fix the problem and move on.

Sincerely,

Suzanne McShane
Albright Circle