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Parents and students tell Tacoma school board of sewer smell and water problems at Boerne Elementary
Summary
Several students and parents testified that a sewer odor and what they described as dirty water sickened children at Boerne Elementary, and parents asked the district to investigate building and crosswalk safety concerns.
Multiple students and parents raised health and safety concerns about Boerne Elementary during public comment, saying a strong sewer odor and questionable water quality sickened students and led some families to keep children home.
Emily Hasenleader, a parent, said a sewer smell was so strong on Monday that students were "going home feeling ill" and that the district should provide children a "safe, healthy environment to learn." "I had to come get my child from school Monday at, like, 11:30 in the morning...because she felt so ill, she could not stay there," Hasenleader said.
Students echoed the account. James Blaze, who identified himself as a Boerne Elementary student, described yellow-discolored water a teacher brought in and said students were restricted from classroom water fountains. "Our teacher Miss Rowe...showed us it and it was all like yellow and filthy," he said, and added that some classmates left school feeling sick.
Student Lillian Hostenlader told the board an estimated eight or nine classmates left school that day and described headache, scratchy throat and stomach pain: "When I did get sick, my head was hurting. My throat was burning and it was scratchy, and my stomach it did not feel good." Another parent, Jessica McGee, said her daughter missed two days of school after the smell and that other students who left that day remained out the following days.
Parents also raised separate safety concerns about a crosswalk near 70th and Sheridan, saying motorists sometimes fail to stop and that crossing-guard coverage varies. McGee urged the board to address that crosswalk because students are transported there by bus and walking families rely on crossing guards.
The board did not take immediate action on the comments during the meeting. Board public-comment procedure was read aloud earlier in the meeting (policy 14.30), and the superintendent or designee is expected to follow up with speakers who requested action, per the district's public-comment practice.
Ending: Parents and students asked the district for prompt investigations into the sewer odor, drinking water quality and crosswalk safety; the district said it will follow up with speakers after the meeting under established procedures.
