By Davy James, Staff Writer
MONROE — The Middlesex County Public Health Department gave the Monroe Township High School cafeteria a satisfactory rating Thursday after two earlier visits by a senior registered environmental health inspector led to the discovery of mice droppings.
”The health inspector said the problem was aggressively treated and passed the inspection,” said Business Administrator Wayne Holliday. “They posted a satisfactory rating and said there were no new problems or new rodent activity.”
School officials made clear the high school didn’t fail the initial two inspections.
”We were given a conditional satisfactory rating after an inspector came in on the first visit and found mouse droppings in a storage area,” said interim Superintendent Joe King. “They came back a few days later and found less, but did find minimal droppings in a different area. There are no issues with food and they haven’t gotten into our supplies.”
Public health officials confirmed that there were no health risks relating to the food served in the cafeteria.
”The only reason for the rating was mouse droppings found in one of the storage rooms,” said public health Deputy Director Mickey Gross. “There is no food preparation in that room and it causes no danger to anyone. There were no droppings found in the area where food is stored. The only thing stored in the area where droppings were found was an ice machine and sealed coffee containers.”
A visit by the inspector Oct. 21 led to the initial discovery, followed by a subsequent visit Oct. 23. The inspector found on the follow-up visit that the droppings in the storage area were gone, but did observe approximately five or six droppings by the loading dock, which is not a food preparation or storage area, according to Mr. Gross.
On Wednesday, Mr. Gross said, exterminators had been sent in by the school to address the problem on numerous occasions and school officials were cooperative aggressively trying to correct the problem.
On Wednesday, school officials said, they had done each of the things the Health Department had requested to rectify the issue, including sealing areas with pipes, putting in molding and installing door sweeps to close off openings under the doors.
Mr. King said the mice are typical of this time of year.
”I live in Monroe and every fall we get mice in the garage when the temperature starts to drop,” Mr. King said. “They look for a warm place so it’s not atypical so we’re shutting off any avenues mice have to get into the school. Mice are a problem for everyone in the district and we’re no different. But our facilities are in good shape and there is no problem with mice in the food area.”
Mr. King said the floors and counter tops are bleached twice a day to ensure a safe environment. Had the school not passed the inspection Thursday, a summons could have been issued to the food service provider which could have led to a $1,000 fine.

