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MURRAY — Recess is supposed to be fun, but lately it’s turning into a stinky mess for students in the Murray School District because of dog feces littering the playground.
“We’re scraping the poo off their shoes,” said Teresa Bigelow, McMillan Elementary’s secretary. “It was in the hall. It was in my office. It was in the classroom. So yeah, it’s a mess.”
Teachers, secretaries and recess supervisors across the district are dealing with students who walk, sit or roll in dog feces.
“I have pants and shirts because they fell in,” Bigelow said of the extra clothes she keeps in her office for students.
School employees said the issue disrupted the school day and upset students.
“We had a child earlier who collapsed because of this,” said Kerri McCullough, music teacher and recess helper.
McCullough said frustrations were reaching a boiling point.
“It’s almost daily,” she said. “It’s so frustrating to come to school knowing it’s going to be part of your job: cleaning up after someone else who hasn’t cleaned up.”
The district said it doesn’t have the money or enough staff to guard school grounds 24 hours a day. It’s asking the public to clean up after their pets and remind others to do so. likewise.
“When our recess duties notice it, we try to help the kids remove it before they enter the building,” said a district blog post published Thursday. “Sometimes it’s so bad that we have to replace shoes and clothes with what we have on hand or by calling the parents. Other times it goes unnoticed until a child comes home from school. recess and smears it on the floor (including carpet), interrupting instruction and embarrassing students.”
The district said if a reminder doesn’t work, the violations can be reported to law enforcement.
“Failing to clean up after a pet on school grounds violates Utah Code 53G-7-210,” the blog post read. “This School Trespass Act protects against misuse of school property that ‘interferes with the function or purpose of the school’.”
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