I don’t smell a rat, and I tried

LOLITA HARPER

Vermin. Rodents. Rats. Cockroaches.

Not exactly an attractive subject but, nonetheless, one that

Newport-Mesa Unified School District administrators are faced with at

Corona del Mar High School.

Go figure. Corona del Mar is one of the most charming villages in

one of the most beautiful and wealthiest cities in the country, but

all that exclusivity does not exempt its school from nasty little

four-legged pests.

I went down to the school Thursday morning to get a look at these

loathsome creatures. I asked to hang out in the special education

classroom, where the majority of the rats had been spotted, hoping to

catch a glimpse of one of the, um, cageless class pets. What I got

instead was a guided tour of the room from middle school prinicipal

Brooke Booth.

“We can’t let you sit in on a class,” she said. “That requires

special permission from the district and three-day notice.”

All right, I’ll take what I can get. I did a quick mental rundown

of what I had in my purse. The last thing I wanted was to attract a

friendly rodent.

Thankfully, those “Handi Snacks” crackers and cheese deals --

which I like to keep around in case my son needs something to munch

on -- were gone.

I braced myself and walked across the aging campus -- built

sometime in the 1960s -- to Ms. Suzy Thatcher’s room. (also known as

Ms. T.) I don’t know what I expected, but what I saw was one of the

most nicely decorated and inviting classrooms.

The entrance to the room houses a vegetable garden, with

strawberries and tomatoes, and a koi pond. There used to be bird

feeders, but they were determined to be one of the things that

attracted some of the vermin, so they are now gone, Booth said.

The bird feeders, garden and pond are all part of learning life

skills, which is an essential and fun part of the special education

curriculum, Booth said. She then took me inside to show me the steel

plates, just put in place, to stop the rats from burrowing in from

the roof.

Something about foam rubber and steel wool and being very

proactive about the problem. I know she was sincere, but she also had

that public relations tone in her voice -- she had to put on a good

front to the media. I listened to her explanations of things but was

more interested in the room.

Thanksgiving decorations were up, as well as bright and colorful

letters, posters and samples of the children’s work. To my untrained

eye, it looked like a fun place to learn.

Then the kids came in from their modified physical education

class. They hugged Booth and anxiously sat at their workstations.

Some of them shot me sideways glances -- they were leery of the

stranger in their room.

Then it hit me. The kids. That’s what this is all about. It’s not

about rats. It’s not about horribly negligent administrators or

whiney parents. It’s about the kids. And those who care about them

and want to make things right for them.

Such as those in the Best Buddies program. Fellow students without

learning disabilities, who are dedicated to working with those in Ms.

T’s class. Best Buddies Brittany Malone, Courtney Rychel and Claudia

Mendoza were the ones who brought the issue to light and gathered 500

signatures on a petition asking the board to take care of the vermin

problem.

“Their actions showed a commitment to the students and the

program,” Booth said. “They are wonderful and supportive.”

Is Booth mad? Or even a little perturbed that, as a result, TV

news cameras and major newspapers have jumped on the “rats story?”

Nope.

“We’ve been through it before,” Brooke said. “It happens.”

So what is done in response?

Well, in addition to the steel plates to block the rats from

burrowing in from the ceiling, the school has also trimmed back the

trees so the rats can’t climb up and jump onto the roof, she said.

Experts have determined the rats aren’t getting in from the ground,

so the school scheduled other pest control experts to come out

Thursday afternoon and check out the ceilings. The tomato garden will

most likely have to go also.

“These things tend to attract rodents,” Booth said of the garden.

Really, what it seems we have here is a group of parents standing

up for their children; a group of students flexing their muscles to

make grown-ups pay attention; and a school district that -- not

really proactively -- but at least reactively, took one on the chin

and is doing its best to fix the problem.

Sounds like a great lesson in civic duty. One that can’t be found

in any textbook.

* LOLITA HARPER writes columns Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

She may be reached at (949) 574-4275 or by e-mail at

[email protected].