Williamsburg Board of Education slammed over dirty, poorly maintained school building and bedbugs

Tammi Bird holds a picture of a corroded bathroom sink while addressing the Williamsburg Schools Board of Education Tuesday night about maintenance problems at the school. She also complained an unreported issue with bedbugs at the school district.

Bedbugs, a tarp hanging in a classroom ceiling known to students as “the diaper” and a habitually dirty school were just a few topics that brought a group of concerned parents before the Williamsburg Independent School Board Tuesday night.

Wayne and Tammi Bird, whose son is in second grade at the K-12 school, admonished the school board for officials’ lack of action when several bedbugs were found.

“There have been at least five instances of bedbugs with different children,” Tammi Bird told the board, noting one was found on a fifth-grade student and confirmed as a bedbug by the school nurse.

Tammi Bird said one nearly made it into her house but was found in time in her child’s pants. As a result, when the child comes home from school, he strips off his clothes and shoes and they go in the dryer for 30 minutes to kill any bedbugs.

Superintendent Denny Byrd said in his 13 years as superintendent, the school system has dealt with outbreaks of head lice on several occasions.

“To my knowledge, this is the first year that we have had this situation with bedbugs,” Byrd said. “So it has kind of been a little bit of a learning curve for us also.”

Board Member Allen Steely questioned whether the few bedbugs found were cause for concern as the school is not, by any means, infested.

Tammi Bird provided the board members with information about the bedbugs, noting that one female will lay three to four eggs per day during her nine-month life span.

“One pregnant female can cause an infestation in weeks,” she explained.

In addition, she provided copies of information from the Jefferson County School System detailing how it’s officials respond to reports that bedbugs have been found at a school.

In addition, Tammi Bird noted that while lice may be treated for about $18, if a home becomes infested with bedbugs, it can cost thousands of dollars to treat.

Tammi Bird asked the school board to consider something similar to the lice policy to notify parents/guardians about bedbugs by email, letter, and/or through the school’s infinite campus system.

Officials encouraged parents/guardians to register an email address at Williamsburg’s infinite campus.

The parents also asked Denny Byrd why, since the first report of a bedbug was made just before the school was closed because of weather for two weeks, arrangements weren’t made to treat the school during that time?

“I didn’t know from day to day whether we were going to have school,” Byrd replied, adding that he contacted a pest control company immediately upon learning of the bedbugs but elected to wait until spring break so the school would be empty for an extended period.

“I didn’t want to take chance,” he said of someone getting sick from the spray.

Tammi and Wayne Bird also showed the board members photos of several maintenance issues. The photos included the inside of their son’s locker, which had rust and grime building up, and a faucet in one of the lobby bathrooms with severe grime built up around the knobs.

“When I went to this school it was immaculate,” Wayne Bird said. “You talk about being all about Jacket pride. Where is the pride in the building?”

“This is not a maintenance issue,” Tammi Bird said as she held the picture for the board to see. “This is soap, water and some elbow grease.”

The parents then brought up the tarp above the ceiling tiles in a sixth grade math classroom. Wayne Bird noted the tarp had been in place for more than a year to hold and funnel off water dripping down through a hole in the roof. In addition to its position in a classroom, above a microwave and surge protector, Bird noted that some water may remain trapped in the tarp, which can lead to mold growing.

Superintendent Denny Byrd said that part of the roof has been a chronic problem but multiple efforts to have it repaired have failed, typically after the warranty on the work has expired.

“My answer is that the building is 30 years old,” Byrd replied, noting that other needs include new lighting, a new heating and air conditioning system, a security camera system and a new drop ceiling.

“We need a whole new roof,” he said.

Byrd noted that the design of the building, with several interior classrooms that have no windows, makes air conditioning a necessity. The last bids on the project came in at approximately $3 million.

Broken and stained tiles could be seen throughout the lower hallway.

“They don’t even make this size tile anymore, so you would have to lay all new track,” Byrd explained, adding that after financing the latest addition, the school system has approximately $1 million in available bonding capacity.

Other minor issues found during a walkthrough Tuesday included broken locks on multiple bathroom stalls, blood in at least two bathroom sinks and accumulated dust in multiple places.

Byrd added that he is short on custodial staff, noting that such positions now require a GED or high school diploma. As a result, the pool of individuals who are willing to do the job and qualified is even smaller.

“I don’t even have a substitute custodian right now, Byrd said.

Byrd said there are plans in place to paint and clean the lockers during spring break. In addition, he has spoken with Whitley County Judge-Executive Pat White, Jr. about bringing jail inmates to the school to help with some of the more extensive cleaning an maintenance issues.

In addition, Byrd said officials will be conducting more inspections and walk-throughs with the goal of ensure the building is kept in good order.

The board met in executive session for more than an hour to discuss personnel. When the board returned to regular session, no formal action was taken.