D.C.’s pest control problem

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

D.C. has a pest control problem, and here’s a solution:

Trayon White might be tempted. He might be tempted to let his senior lawmaking colleagues take the lead role in what should be a citywide effort to ensure that school facilities get the all-clear sign on rodents, bed bugs, asbestos, lead-laced water, lead-based paint and other hazards.

See, Mr. White might be tempted because 1) he’s only been a D.C. Council member since Jan. 2, and 2) he’s not the chairman of the committee that oversees education.

Mr. White, however, is 1) a member of the educational panel, 2) a former member of the Board of Education, and 3) the council member who represents Ward 8, where Savoy Elementary School is temporarily shuttered because of bed bug and rat infestations.

Authorities have been aware that Savoy, a pre-K through 5th grade school, has been infested since the fall. (A local TV station, WTTG Channel 5, broke the story late last month, including interviews and photos of bed bug bites on the daughters of one outraged father. I followed Channel 5’s lead on Feb. 1 with a column about the health emergency.)

Some teachers held a Savoy sick-out on Friday, city authorities held a meeting with Savoy parents, and on Monday visitors noticed a post on the front door of the school: “Savoy Elementary School Families: Dept. of Health (DOH) has advisers available to conduct bed bug consultations. Please visit the main office to sign-up for a consultation.”

Oh, well. Leave it to health officials to encourage parents to enter a school with rodent and bed bugs problems. After all, they are scrambling after having failed to immediately attack the health scare in the first place.

Plans now call for Savoy students to attend classes at Ferebee Hope Elementary (which is about a 10-minute drive from Savoy); receive free breakfast, lunch and supper at Barry Farms Recreation Center (which is about a 10-minute walk from Savoy); and make use of free transportation to and from Ferebee Hope.

The travel logistics alone could create problems, as D.C. schoolbuses do not ordinarily carry large numbers of small pre-K-age children.

Board of Education member Mark Jones told me on Monday that authorities are taking a “Band-Aid approach.”

“My overall view is I think it’s a Band-Aid approach to all [they] can do at Savoy,” he said, adding that the lead in the water and maybe asbestos could be a much larger problem.

Mr. Jones also said authorities need a citywide health approach.

“The Department of the Environment, D.C. Public Schools and Department of General Services — the three main agencies that impact these situations — should do assessments, a triage. Newer schools may not require assessments,” Mr. Jones said.

Every step of the way, parents should demand immediate notification and assurance that the problems will be abated to their satisfaction.

Mr. White spent his youth and adult pre-council years interfacing with D.C. officials and nonprofits responsible for tending to young people.

That he is a member of both the education panel and the council’s Committee on Human Services gives added weight for him to flex his political muscles on the Savoy health scare, and the fact that former mayor Vincent Gray is chairman of the Health Committee should be wind at his back.

The chief rule Mr. White should remember is that, when something smells foul in his neck of the woods, all some D.C. politicians want to do is contain it. It’s the city favored pest-control solution.

That’s the way it is — not the way it should be.

• Deborah Simmons can be contacted at dsimmons@washingtontimes.com.