LETTER OF THE WEEK

I would like to respond to some of the opinions the children at Newport

Harbor had on the condition of some of the areas of the campus.

Toilets overflowing, bathrooms smell, and the condition of lockers are

what they complained about.

I sometimes watch when the plumbers come out to unclog a toilet that has

overflown and is clogged.

The items they pull out are anywhere from apples and oranges to wadded

paper towels. The bathroom smells can be attributed to the unsanitary

habits of some of the students.

The restrooms also get lots of graffiti. I can spend up to 30 minutes a

night scrubbing it off the walls. Valuable time I could be using to clean

classrooms.

Lockers are cleaned in the summer from head to toe, dusted and sanitized.

The smells are usually spilled milk or a drink of some kind. There are

not enough hours in a day to go through lockers and check for any type of

spillage. Dented lockers are from the few kids that like to destruct

things.

Lockers are very expensive to do anything with. Lockers need to be

replaced. It’s hard to repair them.

When I started in the district 11 years ago we had seven night custodians

that cleaned rooms, there are now four.

We used to have three and a half day custodians, now we have two and a

half.

The custodians we have at Newport Harbor are one of the most dedicated

group of workers I have worked with in a long time. They have pride in

the work they do.

I in no way want anyone to think the kids at the school are terrible

messy kids.

Ninety-nine percent are polite, friendly and responsible. It’s the same

in all society. It’s the 1% that makes the other 99% look bad.

Tim Waller

Night custodian

Newport Harbor High School