Parent presses Manchester board for answers after pest reports at Hillside, Weston
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Summary
A resident asked when the district learned of cockroach reports at Hillside (and Weston) and whether treatments in occupied schools are safe; administration said an external exterminator was engaged in early September and that reports of sightings at the two schools are declining.
Cali Rojas of 169 Pine Street told the Board of School Committee on Oct. 27 that parents and taxpayers "deserve the truth" about an apparent insect problem at Hillside and other schools and asked, "When did we truly know about the cockroach issue within Hillside and or any other schools in the district?"
Superintendent Dr. Camille Espinola responded that the district follows a multi-departmental process and does not itself decide or apply pest treatments. "We work with our facilities department who makes the determination to pull in an external exterminator," she said, and added that the district engaged the exterminator in early September after monitoring reports over the summer.
Dr. Espinola told the board the treatment period typically requires about two weeks to judge effectiveness and said the district was "determining that it is taking hold." She said reports are ‘‘coming down dramatically at Hillside and Weston," and that the Health Department, Facilities and district teams are meeting regularly to coordinate response and communications. Board members who are parents of Hillside students described receiving district communications in September and on Oct. 14 and said they were satisfied with the level of information and the treatments allowed under school-safety regulations.
The public speaker also asked for an update on a teacher placed on leave for misconduct; Dr. Espinola noted that privacy laws limit what the district can say publicly but the administration said questions about personnel status would be addressed within legal constraints.
Context: The public comment and superintendent response occurred at the start of the meeting. Administration said it will continue to monitor the treatment's effectiveness and report back as needed. The district did not provide a detailed timeline of first reports beyond saying reports were monitored over the summer and that contracted extermination began in early September.