Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Will MPS live up to its promise?

In response to advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett announced yesterday that all previously closed schools and childcare centers were free to reopen.

MPS spokesperson Roseann St. Aubin said that all classrooms will be equipped with hand sanitizer and tissues so that students, teachers and staff can follow good health practices. That's as it should be although I remain skeptical about the administration's following through on this.

As anyone who works in the Milwaukee public schools know, bathrooms are routinely without toilet paper and hand soap. Conscientious teachers, staff and parents often purchase these items for their schools. But that really isn't their responsibility.

Crucial to teaching children good hygiene, providing MPS students with a healthy learning environment, and protecting students, faculty and staff from diseases is providing them with these basic sanitary products.

As public attention to this latest health scare wanes it will be interesting to see if MPS lives up to its promises.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

They also said all the closed schools were going to be cleaned and Riverside was not cleaned before it was reopened.