Cockroaches crowd Upper School campus

Journalism+advisor+Ellen+Austin+and+first+period+journalism+students+found+cockraches+on+the+floor+of+the+room+this+morning.+The+infestation+is+due+to+a+decision+not+to+treat+city+sewage+with+roach+insecticide.

Journalism advisor Ellen Austin and first period journalism students found cockraches on the floor of the room this morning. The infestation is due to a decision not to treat city sewage with roach insecticide.

Upper School students noticed roaches crawling around campus this week, the result of a city-wide change in sewage treatment.

The campus perimeter was sprayed with insecticide to rid the school of the critters over Spring Break.

Online Editor-in-Chief Darian Edvalson (12) described what he saw in his first period journalism class.

“There were a bunch of dead cockroaches and a few alive ones all around the classroom, and it was pretty disgusting,” he said.

The surviving bugs have infested classrooms and can be spotted campus-wide. They entered campus through city sewage lines, which are no longer being treated by the insecticide chemicals.

Upper School groundskeeper Fabian Arias said that the campus was rid of most of the bugs.

“I pretty much walk every inch of this campus, and I find them throughout dying off,” he said.

The groundskeepers sprayed insecticide in the journalism room, one of the infested areas on campus. They plan to tackle the issue similarly when other classrooms report cockroach infestations.