Study unearths dirt on school cleanliness

Ask students at this town’s Riverside Middle School why nearly one in five won’t sip from the drinking fountain and 44 percent question its cleanliness.
http://rutlandherald.com/article/20140325/NEWS02/703259966

Students at Springfield’s Riverside Middle School question the cleanliness of its drinking fountains, but a new study shows the most germs lurk on its elevator buttons and door handles. Photo: Kevin O’Connor / Staff PhotoPublished March 25, 2014 in the Rutland Herald Springfield: Study unearths dirt on school cleanliness By Kevin O’Connor Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD — Ask students at this town’s Riverside Middle School why nearly one in five won’t sip from the drinking fountain and 44 percent question its cleanliness. Nearly 80 percent surveyed, however, could swallow filtered water from a cooler. Problem solved? Not for teacher Jeff Vandivere’s “fusion” science and literacy class, whose work is set to spark bigger change in the 1,450-student pre-K-12 system. The class tested fountain water and learned, despite the bubbler’s aged appearance, it was exceptionally clean. Then, conducting swab tests for bacteria, they unearthed dirt and germs everywhere else. The filthiest place: The elevator buttons. Runners-up: The handle on the principal’s door, the phone in the front office and, finally and only partially as a result, students’ hands themselves. Only 24 percent of students wash their hands before lunch and only 16 percent do so after, the survey showed. As for teachers, 48 percent don’t remind classes to scrub up before and none repeat the suggestion after. The fusion class believes this is causing health problems, noting the school nurse reports up to 15 percent of students complain daily of some sort of illness. In response, the class has asked the School Board to: Install a hand-washing sink in its cafeteria. Promote the cleanliness of its fountain water and lift its ban on metallic bottles. Inform students why they should wash up before and after lunch. “People have false assumptions,” Vandivere says. “We need to let students know our drinking water is very clean — and how dirty some of the other places in the building are.” The effort already is reporting results. “Now I wash my hands a whole lot more,” says seventh-grader Connor Starr, who attended a recent School Board meeting with his brother, eighth-grader Chris. School leaders, for their part, are considering installing a new fountain that looks as fresh as the water it spouts. “The misperception comes because it’s the oldest one students have seen in their lives,” school Superintendent Zachary McLaughlin says. “Those kinds of things send a message how much we care.”