A dead rat was found in the ceiling at a classroom in New Westminster Secondary School last fall, and, as a result, the Fraser Health Authority outlined several recommendations to help deal with the pesky rodents at the aging school.
The New Westminster school district sent an email to The Record confirming that it has completed or is in the process of implementing all of the recommendations (see sidebar below for full list.)
Alex Kwan, an environmental health officer with Fraser Health, toured the school along with a representative from WorkSafe B.C. last fall.
This isn't the first time Fraser Health has visited the high school about rodent concerns.
In 2007, after being contacted by the public, the agency inspected and found evidence of rodents.
Evidence of rodents were found "throughout the school," according to Kwan's 2007 report.
The most recent incident surfaced on Nov. 6, when the dead rat was discovered during school hours, and students were moved to another room while the situation was dealt with.
A number of people have noted they have either seen rats or evidence of rats at the high school, including the New Westminster Teachers' Union president Grant Osborne, who said recently that teachers told him about rat concerns earlier in the fall.
The president of CUPE Local 409 Marcel Marsolais told The Record at the time the dead rat was found that the age of the building - more than 50 years old - is a significant part of the problem. Parents in New Westminster have been waiting for more than a decade to have a new school built.
