“I have rats swimming in milk on my street,” was just one of the rodent complaints received by Somerville’s 311 line, said the city’s public works commissioner, Jill Lathan.
The Monday meeting of the joint School Building Facilities and Maintenance committee, which brought together city councilors and School Committee members, covered issues with elevators, pool closings and playground repairs, but the ongoing fight against rodents in Somerville public schools was prominent. Lathan, who was charged with providing an update to the committee, described the rodents as “beasts” who are the “bane of our existence.”
The rats swimming in milk made for a funny yet disturbing anecdote, highlighting the focus in the fight – food – that has been in discussion for months.
Filling holes, replacing doors and inspecting ceiling tiles are just some of the continued measures the city has been taking in preventing rodents from entering school buildings, said school district chief of staff Amara Anosike, but city councilor Naima Sait asked if more creative approaches were feasible: “Have we looked into composting?”
That resonated with councilor Lance Davis, who soon after brought forward a motion encouraging public works staff and the district superintendent to discuss a plan to reintroduce composting into the schools.
Superintendent Rubén Carmona had doubts. “I’m afraid that by adding another variable it will limit our ability to determine the patterns of presence of rodents in this space,” he said.
But according to Davis, composting will only reduce variables, being proven by experts to be an effective measure in combating rodent populations.
Test began before Covid
Somerville, while lacking its own citywide composting program, endorses the practice as an effective means to deter rodents.
In 2018 four Somerville Public Schools participated in a composting pilot program that aimed to encourage less waste and teach about recycling. The program, paid for by a $30,000 city grant, was short-lived: Covid prevented it from expanding as planned.
Councilor Laura Pitone, a self proclaimed composter, said data from the 2018 pilot could be integral to moving forward in decisions on a renewed composting program, and members agreed.
Another advocate was councilor Matthew McLaughlin, who at the previous week’s City Council meeting said the initiative to bring back composting in Somerville could reduce the rodent population and save the city money. He urged the council to send a recommendation to the rodent special committee.
Compost and keep kids’ food
The joint group convenes Nov. 18 for the last time this calendar year. Davis said there is no urgency to have a concrete plan for a possible composting initiative by then – that “this might be a year from now, but I want to restart the conversation.”
Some may want the program to move more urgently, if it can be part of a solution to rat activity before policies are put in place that make life harder for district staff and students.
“It is shameful that they seem to passive aggressively be blaming teachers and children for having food,” School Committee member Emily Ackman said, referring during an Oct. 7 committee meeting to emails to the committee blaming rodent issues on children eating in school. Ackman admits food is a part of the issue but mainly blames the “inadequate buildings.”
A stronger
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Yup Composting is the answer. Totally solved the problem in Cambridge…