Two Gatineau schools under the Centre de services scolaire des Portages-de-l’Outaouais (CSSPO) service centre sent letters home in the last two weeks about cockroaches seen inside.
According to Euclide-Lanthier’s letter, cockroaches were found and an exterminator has been called.
Saint-Rédempteur said an extermination treatment had been carried out in mid-August, but cockroaches were still present. Parents were asked for help checking school bags and coats for roaches.
The Western Québec School Board told Radio-Canada one of its schools has had cockroaches this school year, but didn’t say which one.
Cockroaches can contaminate food and cause problems for people with asthma, according to Health Canada.
Bags in bins
Saint-Rédempteur has been using pest control for cockroaches since 2019, according to documents obtained through an access to information request by Radio-Canada.
When Michaël Benoit’s children return home from that school, their school gear and outerwear goes into blue plastic bins to contain any roaches that may have hitched a ride.
“This is the only way we have found,” he told Radio-Canada in French.
Even with these measures, Benoit said his family is “always afraid” of the cockroaches coming home because of the cost of hiring an exterminator.
“I think there are people who should take their responsibility seriously in the school service centre and take the appropriate measures to resolve this problem,” Benoit said.
Problems since 2019
Documents obtained show that Saint-Rédempteur has had 90 exterminator interventions to deal with cockroaches between 2019 and 2023, including 28 in 2021 and 24 last year.
The service centre’s Côte-du-Nord and Notre-Dame schools had about 80 each in that same period, according to the documents. There’s no information suggesting they currently have roaches.
Radio-Canada also obtained emails from school administrators complaining about staff experiences with cockroaches to CSSPO going back to 2021.