Complaints of vermin, mold, ‘creatures’ at Lexington high school rattle staff, students

As a snake and a mouse falling from ceilings at Lexington’s Henry Clay High School caused safety concerns this fall, district documents show that school officials were hit with additional infestation complaints that included more vermin, flying birds, ants and a raccoon.

Other concerns over mold, missing ceiling tiles, dilapidated furniture and poor heat and ventilation at the building — which opened in 1970 and was renovated in 2006 — were also raised in more than 350 pages of emails, inspections and other documents obtained by the Herald-Leader under the Kentucky Open Records Act.

The Herald-Leader made the request for documents on environmental issues on November 14. On November 21, district officials said they would need an extension until Dec. 7. On that day, they asked for two extra days due to the volume of redactions. The material was made available on Dec. 9.

In late September, a snake fell from a classroom ceiling and teacher Nathan Spalding posted about it on social media. A mouse fell from the ceiling as well, employees reported, and staff complained of cockroaches and spiders.

Parents also have raised questions at school board meetings about whether mold is making students sick.

In response to the concerns raised in documents, reports and comments from parents, Fayette Schools Superintendent Demetrus Liggins told the Herald-Leader Wednesday that the district is committed to providing a safe, healthy and sanitary environment for students and staff on every campus. He said he directed his staff to follow up immediately on complaints.

Mice cause ‘panic’ in classrooms

Several of the emails obtained by the Herald-Leader were about sightings of mice:

• August 26: Teacher Ahenewa El-Amin reported in an email that there were mice in Room 32 and asked if traps were available.

• August 31: In an email, teacher Robert Mason said he had killed six mice near Room 2 in the past week.
  
  

• Labor Day weekend: The district brought in extermination company Terminix to assess the building and set over 200 mouse traps, an email from school administration said.
  
  

• September 8: Teacher Renee Goin said in an email that she found a mouse in her room.

• September 19: A mouse was stuck in a trap beside achievement coach Julia Hunt’s desk, she told custodial staff in an email. She noted it was alive.

• September 21: A student emailed school officials to say that classes were being interrupted by mice.
  
  

• September 22: A school police officer named Kim Tram said in an email to district police that “a mouse fell out of a ceiling onto a student causing panic in the class.”

• September 27: A teacher who worked in the food labs, Lisa Chaffins, said in an email to school officials that “students have not cooked in any of my classes since mouse droppings and a mouse was briefly seen in the lab.” The mouse was swept into a dustpan and taken outside, she said.

• September 27: An email from a parent whose name was redacted said her child’s teacher found a rodent in cooking class.

• October 10: Media Specialist Amanda Hurley sent an email to custodial staff saying,”Please bring some mouse traps to the library. We’ve had one running in here this morning.”

On October 13, a parent whose name was redacted asked Principal Paul Little in an email for an update on the building pest situation, saying her son saw a live mouse in a stairwell.

Little responded that “while the number of mice in the building appears to be declining, we are still seeing a few in the facility.” Terminix was in the building checking on the progress of eliminating the mice, Little said.

“I have 4 children attending school, so I fully understand your concern,” he wrote.

Henry Clay is not the only school in the district with pest problems.

The district gave the Herald-Leader pest control reports from Lexington high schools for the last five years that showed Lafayette with 59 reports and Tates Creek with 53 reports — more than Henry Clay’s 49 reports.

Facility problems

Staff reported other critters in their classrooms as well, according to documents, and some were utilizing their own resources to fix the problem. In many cases, school officials arranged for testing, inspections, or other ways of addressing the environmental issues.

Teacher Charissa Riley said in a Sept. 21 email that a maggot or a tape worm fell out of paint as students worked with it.

That same day, teacher Nicole Silimperi emailed administrators “regarding the black mold in the building.”

Teacher Candice Conley said in a September 23 email with a redacted recipient that she was concerned about “mold, humidity so bad that it made ceiling tiles fall and it basically rain(s) in the building.”

“Building is sinking in the front corners...roaches and bugs,” she said.

In a September 23 email, staff member Ryan Queenan told a KEA representative that she had bought poison, traps and plug-in repellents himself.

“My peer tutors also told me there were 3 birds in the cafeteria kitchen earlier in this week and they made their way into the cafeteria. I’ve been complaining about the ant infestation since 2019. At some point we just get tired of trying,” he wrote.

Other teachers wrote complaints around school facilities, such as missing ceiling tiles, heating and cooling problems, and damaged items.

A teacher named Amanda Lynch Drake said in a September 22 email that there was a ceiling tile missing in Room 21. “I have students who are uncomfortable sitting under it for fear of mice/bugs/now snakes falling out of the ceiling,” she said.

In a September 27 email to Liggins and school board members, parents of a visiting future ninth grader, whose name had been redacted, said they were “grossed out by the conditions of the facility.” They cited the lunchroom where they said tables, chairs and floors were “in horrible shape/disrepair.”

That same day, another unnamed parent emailed Liggins, saying “there was also a bird flying through the cafeteria.”

Yet another parent in an email asked, among other things, if the district was going to address, “outdated athletic facilities that are leaking and growing more mold.”

On October 10, English Department Chair Tommy R. Craft, a yearbook advisor, emailed school staff that he had one ceiling tile missing in his classroom and “two are missing in the back room.”

He said he lost a number of past yearbooks due to water damage.

“Can the ceiling tiles be replaced? With the mice and snakes, I’d just feel better with tiles in the ceiling,” he said.

On October 11, staffer Matthew Logsdon said in an email to an administrator, “It’s 80 in Room 5. So much for new HVAC.”

A senior whose name was redacted from records told his teacher on October 17 in an assignment that his classes had been so hot that students had to move from their current location. He said “creatures were roaming the halls and in classes as well.”

In an October 14 email to a school district feedback account, the writer whose name was redacted said there were raccoons in the school.

“This is not a rumor. Video attached,” the email said.

Mold

People also raised questions about mold in emails:

In one email, Queenan said there was mold growing on the walls in her room and bathroom that 16 moderately and severely disabled students used.

On September 28, a parent whose name was redacted in an email, told Liggins that she thought mold at Henry Clay was making her two sons sick.

In a September 29 email, Jeff Harris, a risk management staffer, said tests showed that there was “ no persistent water problem” and “no serious mold problem.”

In late November, parents asked the Fayette school board to determine whether the air quality at Henry Clay High School was making kids sick.

Two parents told the Fayette County Public Schools Board that the district should release an air quality report that was conducted at the school.

Two reports from outside inspectors were ultimately released. One on October 10 said air samples measured within normal limits. Two rooms had “suspect conditions,” but the report recommended a wait and see approach because the HVAC ductwork was going to be cleaned.

The report noted, however, that the California Department of Health maintains that water damage, visible mold and dampness was unhealthy.

A November 17 report said air samples measured within normal limits. The testers only made basic building maintenance recommendations.

But the report also said, “The appearance of stained ceiling tiles, even when the air is not affected, only promotes concerns by occupants.”

In a Herald-Leader interview this week, Donna Florence, one of the parents who has expressed concerns to the Fayette County Public Schools board, said, “We have more questions than we have answers. There needs to be transparency in fixing this problem for the betterment of everybody.”

“We have a huge problem at Henry Clay,” Florence told school board members at Thursday night’s meeting. She said that rooms that should have been retested for mold were not.

Florence said it should be the district’s number one priority to replace “this school that is no longer functional and is no longer able to be maintained or made safe for our kids.”

Superintendent response

Recognizing that building conditions can vary depending on the age of the structure and its major components, Liggins said they have standards for cleanliness, function and comfort that must be met.

He said he was very concerned about the reports he received about environmental issues at Henry Clay High School a few months ago and directed his staff to follow up immediately.

“However, independent inspections by exterminators and air quality specialists confirmed Henry Clay did not have a pest control problem or issue with mold in the building,” Liggins said.

Henry Clay High School is a dated building in need of major renovation or replacement in the coming years, which is why it was identified as one of the top priority projects in the 2021 District Facilities Plan, he said.

In the meantime, district officials have made some significant investments to improve conditions, including an $8 million HVAC overhaul and replacement currently in the final stages of completion, Liggins said.

A major renovation of Henry Clay High School is one of fifteen projects included as immediate priorities on the current district facilities plan, Liggins said in a September email.