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School responds with letter to parents after teacher claims neglected bathrooms equivalent to a ‘jail cell’

The images showed doors missing from stalls, and one photo exhibited a partition that appeared to be ripped from the wall.

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. — After a teacher at Parkdale High School released photos that appeared to show crumbling ceiling tiles, evidence of a rodent problem and doors missing from bathroom stalls Wednesday morning, school officials sent students home with a letter Wednesday promising repairs within 30 days.

Monica Brokenborough told WUSA9 her students at Parkdale High School snapped photos from inside of the boys and girls bathrooms.

“I was absolutely shocked,” Brokenborough said. “The students have brought to my attention that a lot of their bathrooms actually resemble something that’s kind of comparable to a jail cell.”

Credit: wusa
Parkdale High School

The images showed doors missing from stalls, and one photo exhibited a partition that appeared to be ripped from the wall.

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“These conditions are unacceptable by any measure and not reflective of our school environment or the climate we want to create,” the letter said, in part. “Please note the requests for repairs to the areas highlighted in the report were placed prior to the news story. Unfortunately, the work remains outstanding.”

The letter went on to say they are in touch with the Prince George’s County Public Schools Building Services and the work will be addressed within 30 days.

The letter said the ceiling tiles would need immediate attention, and they are working to repair that within the week.

“Due to the age of our building, there are always extra precautions taken when repairing non-cosmetic aspects of our facility,” Dr. Tasha Graves-Henderson, the principal, wrote in the letter.

Credit: Submitted

The music teacher told WUSA9 she had to put duct tape over mouse holes in her classroom.

“There’s been a couple of times where my classes had to evacuate because of the presence of a rodent,” Brokenborough said.

Graves-Henderson disputed Brokenborough’s account of rodents in the building in the letter.

“There is no rodent infestation at Parkdale High School,” she said. “While there were past concerns due to our location and proximity to the woods behind the school, we do not have any issues at this time.”

Prince George's County Schools sent us a statement Tuesday regarding the issues, and said there are many projects and repairs in the works.

“We have identified approximately $8.5 billion over 20 years for comprehensive maintenance and construction,” school district officials said, in part. “We continue to lobby the state for additional funding to address the needs of our aging schools. Like other school systems, we cannot absorb these costs on our own.”

Findings in a school climate survey from 2017 revealed most students believed the school was not clean.

More than half of the students surveyed agreed that the bathrooms were not cleaned or maintained well.

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