On Wednesday, families at Cedar Hills Elementary were sent an email from the school’s principal, Marva McKinney, informing them of a rodent infestation and measures being taken to combat the issue, including shutting down the schools cafeteria.
The email (courtesy of First Coast News)
“Hello Cedar Hills Elementary School families.
In the spirit of open and transparent communication, I want to keep you informed of anything that impacts your student’s educational experience.
I am calling to share that rodents have been spotted on our campus and inside our school building. Because of this, we are taking several measures using guidance from our pest control contractor and district maintenance staff.
First, we have closed down our cafeteria, which is the main location where the rodents have been sited. Closing down the cafeteria enables the pest control staff to have an aggressive treatment plan without impacting students and staff. The plan includes trapping and safely removing rodents.
While the cafeteria is closed, food will be prepared offsite and brought to our school and students will be served meals in alternate locations.
Additional steps include working with pest control to identify and close off any access points that may be allowing rodents to enter the school, sanitizing and cleaning areas where rodents have been spotted, clearing away all storage and clutter, and trimming tree branches back from the roof of the building.
We will continue to keep you posted and let you know when our cafeteria has reopened. If you have any questions or concerns about this incident or anything related to your student’s educational experience at Cedar Hill Elementary, please do not hesitate to contact me through the school.
Sincerely, Marva McKinney, Principal”
Jax Examiner contacted Duval County Public Schools and received the same reply as we did back in March for our story Councilman Calls out Duval Schools for a rat infestation at Neptune Beach Elementary
Response typically includes:
- Identifying and eliminating sources of food
- Closing windows and doorways to reduce access
- Sealing holes or any potential access in roofs and walls
- Deploying traps without compromising student safety
DCPS also said in their statement, “Our team was aware of the issue at this school and is responding. In addition to the rapid response team for these types of issues, each school receives monthly pest control services.”
That all sounds fine and dandy until you realize they are repeating the same message now, the last school week in April, as they used then, the first school week in March! DCPS has had 2 months to correct an issue that should never have been allowed to become an issue in the first place.
They went from having a rat infestation at Neptune Beach Elementary to still having a rat infestation at Neptune Beach Elementary, as well as rat infestations at both Cedar Hills Elementary AND Love Grove Elementary School. Love Grove did not have to shut down their cafeteria though, at least not yet.
So much for DCPS’s “Rapid Response Team”. It sounds like they could use a new name, maybe DCPS’s “We’ll Get to it, Eventually Team”
As City Councilman Rory Diamond asked, “What are you doing with the billions we sent you to fix this?”
DCPS does receive funding to pay for pest control. Jax Examiner has contacted DCPS to learn whether they use private contractors, DCPS employees, and or a combination of the two for pest control. And whether there is a system in place to verify that the money is going where it is supposed to be going. We will report back once we have the answers to those, and other questions.