(Memphis) There are numerous complaints of no toilet paper or soap for South Park elementary students to wash their hands!
The complaints are from teachers, who also say lice and pink-eye are common, as well as mold and rodents.
If you are the parent of one of the 600 students that go to South Park Elementary, the teacher’s accusations might disturb you.
But Memphis City Schools insists the accusations are not true.
One teacher wrote us saying: “It is a weekly occurrence, if not daily, that there is no toilet paper, soap, or paper towels in the student or teacher bathrooms.”
Another teacher says, “Parents of South Park students have donated toilet paper and hand soap to their child`s class” and “teachers have brought their own soap and toilet paper to school so they can use the restroom.”
The teachers go on to say that pink-eye has been passed-on from students to the administration and it’s likely the lack of soap in the bathrooms to blame.
“I am here to tell you, that is not the case at all,” said Brian Shipp.
Shipp is the executive director of facilities for Memphis City Schools.
Shipp says paper towels, toilet tissue and soap are always in stock at all city schools, “There is no reason for any parent to have to bring any toilet tissue or paper towels to the school.”
Shipp says if a school runs low on any of these items, the janitors can call a custodial supervisor who will bring toilet paper or soap to the school within an hour.
He says the Principal of South Park also has him on “speed dial,” yet she’s never called him about these issues and he believes that she would have if she knew about a problem, “If there are serious problems, they need to be reported to the proper people.”
But the teachers tell us, they have reported these problems to the principal and nothing’s been done.
They’re hoping something now will change.
The principal says these issues had never been brought to her attention.
MCS is now investigating to see if there is a problem at the school, and why.