By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET — Citing what she said have been long-running complaints about unclean and unsanitary conditions at the Henry J. Winters Elementary School, School Committeewoman Joanne Bonollo has put school and union officials on notice that she wants the situation corrected immediately or will contact the state Board of Health.

Bonollo said she sent a letter by e-mail to School Supt. Hans Dellith, Pawtucket Teachers' Alliance President Charlene Christy, her fellow School Committee members, Sodexho food services and others on Thursday night after attending an open house at the Winters School. In it, she cites numerous areas inside the school that she found to be “unfit” for the students and staff. The maintenance of these problem areas, she said, comes under the purview of the school’s custodial staff and Sodexho food services.
Bonollo said that, upon arriving at the open house, her first question to the administration was “Why does your school smell so bad?” She further wrote, “Aside from the smell because trash is not taken out, the school is physically unclean.” She also stated that the bathrooms, with the exception of one, were “disgusting,” and that, “As a parent, I wouldn’t want my children to have to use the facilities. I wouldn’t want to use the facilities.”
Among the other areas that Bonollo said are in need of cleaning are the nurse’s office, all common areas, food service areas, and the multi-purpose room. She said curtains in the multi-purpose room “have about a 2-inch layer of dust webs on them” and should be removed.
Bonollo said the school has three full-time custodians. “That school, smaller than many, should sparkle,” she stated.  She said that one hallway, which was painted by the principal himself over the summer, looks good, as do many of the classrooms that are maintained by the teachers, but  many other areas do not.
“Old age, usage, wear, these are conditions that I can accept. Filth that is there because people don’t want to do their jobs isn’t,” Bonollo wrote in her e-mail.
Bonollo said she has received complaints, mostly from teachers and other staff, about the cleanliness of the school going back a couple of years. She also said that several complaints have been filed about some of the school’s custodians, including allegations that one or more has been found “sleeping on the job.” “But nothing is ever done,” she stated.
The School Committeewoman said she intends to return to Winters School next Friday, armed with a camera, and if her complaints have not been addressed, she will contact the Board of Health. She added that she experienced a similar issue, due to a lack of supervision on the part of the custodial staff at the Curtis Elementary School, several years back when her own children were students there.
Schools Supt. Hans Dellith was out of town for a conference on Friday, but Assistant Supt. Kimberly Mercer toured the school and said that overall, the 47-year-old school building “looks fine.” She acknowledged that there is a build up of grime in certain parts of the floor that have been waxed over many times, and said there are areas that could benefit from remodeling. “But by no means is there anything that poses a danger to students or staff.”
Principal Keith Hemenway agreed, saying that he thinks the unsanitary conditions cited by Bonollo are exaggerated and have more to do with the building’s age and years of hard use than a lack of custodial care. Hemenway said that the school has one custodian on duty during the day and two on at night, and noted that Bonollo’s visit occurred in the early evening after a busy day of classes.
“We’re glad this was brought to our attention that we need to spend more time deep cleaning,” said Hemenway, adding that the custodial staff had been made aware of the complaints.
Mercer and Hemenway said that representatives from the Sodexho food service had arrived that morning, after receiving Bonollo’s e-mail, and had spent the day cleaning the kitchen area and the food service equipment.
Calls to a local representative of Sodexho were referred to the firm’s public relations director in Washington, DC. Attempts to reach him on Friday were unsuccessful.
School Committeewoman Amy Breault Zolt told the TIMES that she had visited the school early Friday morning after reading Bonollo’s e-mail, and also thought that the complaints had been exaggerated. “I toured all of the bathrooms. They didn’t smell,” she stated. She also said that she found the kitchen area to be generally clean, although there was some dust in the corners of some of the food service equipment.
“There are a few things regarding maintenance that I’m not happy with,” said Zolt, but she, too, she attributes the issues more to the age of the building.
Zolt added that she didn’t like the fact that Bonollo had chosen to handle the issue in this manner, by sending e-mails to the parties involved, saying that it’s “not following protocol.” Bonollo had earlier told the TIMES that she chose to go this route as an elected official because she has found that her complaints “have on occasion been summarily dismissed.”