Blue Island teachers, community members report mice, mold and unsanitary conditions at District 130 schools

BLUE ISLAND - Blue Island teachers plan to attend the Blue Island District 130 Board of Education (BOE) meeting tonight after schools have not been properly cleaned in a month, resulting in unsanitary, unhealthy learning and working conditions for students and teachers. At least 100 teachers and community members plan to attend the meeting. Blue Island Education Association (BIEA) President Sherri Roozee-Sera will be making a statement detailing the deteriorating conditions and calling on the district to take immediate action to bring back the custodians and clean the schools.

"Our teachers and students are seeing mice, fly infestations, feces and urine that's not being properly cleaned up and even dead animals that are rotting on school grounds. There is no way any child should be learning in conditions like this. These working conditions do not allow teachers to properly do their jobs," Roozee-Sera said.

Current conditions at District 130 include (pictures available here):

• Mold in locker room: After being told that mold was dirt, staff kept pressing the issue and the site was tested. On Monday, testing revealed that Kerr Middle School locker rooms tested positive for mold.

• Unsanitary/neglected bathrooms: Both student and staff washrooms are filthy. Multiple buildings have reports of overflowing garbage cans and stalls filled with overflowing sanitary products. Both student and staff bathrooms are frequently out of supplies like paper towels, soap and toilet paper.

• Filthy floors: Lunchroom and gym floors have not been properly cleaned all school year. There is food and debris stuck to them. They're so dirty that kids are literally sticking to the floors. Kindergarteners eat breakfast in their classrooms each day, and those carpets are filled with food crumbs and debris.

• Bathroom Accidents: Our youngest students can have accidents. Over the past month, student accidents have not been properly cleaned up in a timely manner. One teacher, out of desperation, put sawdust on a student accident. It stayed there for several days until someone finally came to clean it. There are frequently feces on the toilet seats of student bathrooms that are not properly cleaned. Trained and knowledgeable staff are needed to address bathroom accidents and vomiting.

• Rodent/insect infestation: All the built-up crumbs and garbage are attracting flies and mice, which have been spotted throughout our buildings.

• Dead animals: Dead animals have been spotted on school grounds, including near where students board the buses. In one instance, no one removed the carcass for a week.

"It's like the district is completely ignoring us. No one is listening when we tell them about the terrible conditions. In the meantime, we're expected to try and teach our students, obviously these poor conditions are a huge distraction to teaching and learning," Roozee-Sera said.

The District 130 custodians were laid off by the administration on Aug. 19. Since then, the administration has not met with the custodians to figure out a plan to bring them back. Instead, the district is attempting to outsource the cleaning jobs.

"The new company was supposed to start on Sept. 8, however they weren't ready on that day and still do not have the ability to fully staff our buildings. The staff that we have seen don't appear to know how to properly clean schools," Roozee-Sera said. "We're asking the district to revisit talks with our custodians, attempt to resolve whatever issues they are having with them, and bring them back to work in our buildings. We cannot continue to work in these conditions, and we have lost faith in the district's ability to resolve this issue with an outside company."

The BIEA represents approximately 300 teachers and staff educating nearly 3,000 students who attend one of the 12 schools in District 130.

Tonight's BOE meeting is set for 6 p.m. at the Eisenhower Cooperative Building (5318 W. 135th St., Crestwood). At least 100 teachers and community members are expected to attend the meeting.

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The 135,000 member Illinois Education Association (IEA-NEA) is the state's largest union. IEA represents PreK-12 teachers outside the city of Chicago and education support staff, higher education faculty, retired education employees and students preparing to become teachers, statewide.