Rodent infestation plagues École Harrison
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/03/2022 (1295 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The staff and students of École Harrison are currently contending with a significant population of mice located in the French immersion school’s crawlspace area.
While the Sun has received numerous reports about this infestation for weeks now, Brandon School Division assistant superintendent Jon Zilkey confirmed the authenticity of this ongoing issue on Tuesday.
During a phone conversation with the Sun, Zilkey said the division was first made aware of this mouse activity at École Harrison just before Christmas and immediately called an exterminator to deal with the problem.
Unfortunately, the initial attempt at pest control did not achieve the desired result over the next couple months and eventually forced the division to try to hire someone with a construction background, since the mice had taken root in the building’s foundation.
“So we’re going to contract this out to make sure that those holes get plugged,” Zilkey said. “And that’s being done presently.”
Zilkey also confirmed that the mouse infestation has had an impact on the day-to-day activities of some staff and students at École Harrison, with a few cohorts having to temporarily move classrooms due to the presence of dead mice and/or mice droppings.
However, Zilkey said the division hasn’t considered moving these classrooms to an online learning format until the problem is straightened out, since the school’s custodial staff have really stepped up throughout the last three months.
“We’ve got Workplace Safety and Health procedures to follow and we make sure that they’re done appropriately,” he said. “And once we’re sure it’s clean, they can go back.”
While Zilkey couldn’t provide an exact timeline of when this issue will be resolved, he wanted to tell local parents that the division is remaining proactive. Not only are BSD officials expected to receive contractor quotes sometime this week, but they are also getting their exterminator to put in some more work over the upcoming spring break.
“Rodents in a public space can be a cause for concern, but we want to assure [parents] that the school … and all the maintenance team is doing everything they can to remove the issue and maintain a safe environment for our staff and students,” he said. “We do see it improving and going in the right direction.”
Zilkey also mentioned that the division has set aside $36,300 in its current operating budget for pest/rodent control.
École Harrison currently has a student population of around 360 pupils who are enrolled in kindergarten to Grade 8 classes, according to BSD’s 2021-22 school handbook.
» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com
» Twitter:@KyleDarbyson