By Melanie Jacob
Journal Editor
[email protected]
Due to the most unfortunate timing, teachers at St. Dominic Catholic elementary school were forced to deal with furry little pests right before school opened.
"Before the long weekend, teachers in the classrooms discovered there was some evidence of mice being in there," said Darryl Bazylak, superintendent for Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools, specifically St. Dominic and St. Augustine. "They cleaned up some of the stuff and notified the administrators, we assessed the situation, and did the necessary cleaning."
Two of the classrooms required professional cleaning because there had been nests, which means the mice had been there for a while.
"Since youngsters use the classroom, we wanted to make sure they were professionally cleaned from top to bottom, including the toys," said Bazylak. "We disinfected and cleaned everything."
According to Bazylak, a lot of the cleaning happens during the summer and they - along with other schools - regularly have situations with evidence of mice around. They trap the rodents usually and ensure they don't have an extreme amount. In the case of a nest, the area is professionally cleaned.
In this case, despite there being caretakers working and other staff around during the summer, there was a period of time where they went on holidays for at least a week or more.
"The mice probably came in looking for warmth and such," said Bazylak.
