Cockroach issue returns to downtown Toronto public school
Posted March 3, 2016 9:56 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Parents of children attending a downtown Toronto public school say they are frustrated and frightened by news that cockroaches have returned after being told the problem had been resolved.
CityNews first reported the problem at Alexander Muir-Gladstone Avenue Jr. & Sr. Public School at Dufferin and Dundas last September, when a parent posted videos of the roaches roaming inside the school’s basement lunchroom.
Despite TDSB assertions that the problem had been dealt with, a video was posted on Facebook earlier this week by a parent which shows the roaches on a different floor.
“I’m terrified, I don’t want to bring roaches into my house,” said concerned parent Karen Bean.
“I’m absolutely disgusted. I’m disappointed that this problem hasn’t been taken care of,” added another parent, Jennifer Jackson. “It cannot continue this way, having cockroaches where our children eat lunch.”
One parent told CityNews she is considering taking her daughter out of school until the issue is resolved.
The TDSB insists they are on top of the situation, with pest control officials in the building as recently as Wednesday night. They said checks done Thursday morning showed no evidence of live roaches.
“Since the issue was first identified, we’ve been doing by-weekly treatments of that school. And so far, that has worked,” said TDSB spokesperson Ryan Bird.
