Students urge School District of Philadelphia to act over broken bathrooms, mice infestation

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Students in South Philadelphia are urging the School District of Philadelphia to take action over broken bathrooms and mice infestations at their school.

Students, parents and legislators held a rally today outside of Southwark Elementary School.

They say there have been issues with plumbing and pest control for years.

Advocates say the district has failed to come up with long-term solutions, and students are suffering because of the inaction.

"Some of us choose to wait until we get home to use the bathroom. This isn't fair, and it isn't right," said one student. "Our janitors do their best to clean but it's a job to fix the pipes and to get doors on the stalls."

The School District of Philadelphia issued the following statement:

"Priority Area 1 of the School District of Philadelphia's Strategic Plan, Accelerate Philly, is to improve the safety and well-being (physical, social-emotional, and environmental) for all District students.

The District is working closely with the principal, school staff, parents, and community stakeholders at Southwark Elementary to address facility concerns collaboratively and transparently over time.

The District has implemented increased pest control efforts and has assessed and corrected previous plumbing issues.

During the District's spring break, a maintenance service contractor performed a complete scope of the building's drain system, including the soil lines extending to the street. This work involved using a camera to capture images of the interior condition of the pipes. The results did not identify any defects such as broken pipes, sagging lines, or active blockages. As a preventative measure, the contractor also cleaned the drain lines.

The school experienced two main drain blockages that affected the entire building on March 5th and March 6th. In both cases, the blockage was cleared the same day.

The District remains committed to maintaining safe, usable restroom access for students in the interim and will continue working with school leadership to minimize disruption as it pursues long-term solutions."