Sightings and signs of mice have been noticed inside of G-building classrooms and the staffroom since around late May of last school year, according to various staff members who work in those spaces. Some of them have also noticed more signs of mice in parts of the building at the start of this school year.
Speech language pathologist Ajoni Renteria first noticed signs of mice in her office, G-16, when she returned to get her possessions a few weeks after school ended last year, she said.
“I came back to get my things, and I saw evidence that there was something that took a little bite out of my plants, and there were some droppings on my desk,” Renteria said.
Renteria then contacted the school office about the issue so that they could handle the problem, she said. Administration had got back to her quickly and was extremely supportive, she added.
The custodial staff “put traps out everywhere in my room,” Renteria said. However, when “I came back in the fall, there were more droppings, and there was a mouse in one of the traps,” she added.
Renteria believes the mice were in her room because it was empty, dark, and quiet compared to the other classrooms in the G building, which were being used for summer school classes, she said. The mice typically stayed by the TV and the sink, she added.
She noticed droppings “on my desk next to my plants, and then on the counters and on the wall mount that holds the TV,” Renteria said. “They were going up the wires, and I made sure to sanitize everything.”
Two other staff members who work in the G-building stated that they’ve noticed signs of rodents in their workplace before school ended last year. They have also noted that there were still noticeable signs of infestation after they returned to their workplace after summer break, and that both say they saw mice running across their classrooms after school started in August.
One of the staff members said they asked MOT for mouse traps to set up in parts of their room.
“It took several weeks for me to actually get these mouse traps,” they said. “Another teacher had requested for traps previously and received them sooner than I did, so I was frustrated with the delay because that’s a long time for mouse traps, especially because mice tend to populate quickly.”
Director of Maintenance, Operations, and Transportation (MOT) Kenneth Paige first started his position a few weeks after school ended last year, Paige said. He is unaware of any information regarding the mice infestation that occurred towards the end of last school year, he added.
Paige learned that evidence of mice had been reported some time in the second week of September, he said. He then hired an exterminating company to conduct a full inspection of the G building’s interior and exterior for any signs of mice, he said. He checked every room, including the foods room, Paige added.
During the inspection, “we found no evidence of the rodents, meaning that we found no rat feces or mice feces or evidence of nesting, which is where the rodents chew and make their nests,” Paige said. “At this point in time, we have made the decision to place bait stations outside of the G building in various locations.”
Junior Ryan Johnson first found out about the mice in the G building at the beginning of September when her teacher’s door had a note directing students to go to the portables because of mice being found inside of the classroom, Johnson said.
“I was really disgusted because I don’t like rats (mice), and I don’t think that I want to be anywhere near them, especially not in school,” she said.
She feels uncomfortable and questions why students are still in the G building, Johnson said.
“I already started feeling concerned when they told us that we had rodents in our class because I don’t know how you get rodents in a public school,” Johnson said. “You’re supposed to be cleaning every day, or at least enough that there aren’t rodents.”
Junior Keyo Ross has five of her classes in the G-building, she said. She isn’t as concerned about the issue as other students, she said. She believes that the presence of mice is likely due to human activity, she added.
“A bunch of my classes allow students to eat during session, … so maybe food could be attracting the mice, ” Ross said.”
MOT is placing different types of traps in the G-building, such as bait-stations, Paige said. The design of the traps adheres to the Healthy Schools Act (Assembly Bill 2260) in the state of California, which mandates what things such as types of pesticides that are permissible and how people should place specific traps, he added.
“The bait inside of the bait-station is a molded block bait, and the station is built in such a way that it’s tamper-proof,” Paige said.
The school administration has been contacted about what MOT’s next steps are, Paige said.
”The building itself will be inspected at least once a week to see if any new signs of infestation or activity is current or present, and we will continue to monitor the traps, and we will do so for the next couple months to see what activity is there,” Paige said.
The Union contacted Principal and Chief Innovator of New Campus Programs Greg Wohlman and Assistant Principal Casey McMurray, but both declined to be interviewed for this story.
