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Report: Roaches, rodent droppings found during inspection at Cochrane Collegiate Academy

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — After insects at North Mecklenburg High School and possible dead animals at Olympic High School, Channel 9 has now uncovered a series of problems at Cochrane Collegiate Academy.

Cochrane Collegiate Academy received a 79.5 health score after an inspector discovered roaches, dirty shower heads and rodent droppings inside the school.

"That's not good,” a parent said. “They eat here. They can get sick from being around this type of environment."

This is the latest in a series of troubled health reports Channel 9 has covered in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

This is a problem Channel 9 has covered before at other schools.

Last May, an inspection found roaches and gnats at Olympic High School, in addition to a "strong urine smell" in several restrooms.

At North Meck High, roaches were found during a 2018 inspection and chemicals in reach of children.

"They shouldn't have to be around that type of environment in schools," a parent said.

Channel 9 took these recent findings and concerns straight to the district.

District officials sent the following information:

"CMS Building services works to provide a clean and safe learning environment for all students and staff at all CMS properties. We make work orders for all issues cited.  We treat these as urgent work orders with a response time of 48 hours. The recent health inspection helps to identify areas of concern, however we want to assure families that none of the issues cited represent any danger to students, nonetheless our goal is that all schools would receive an inspection score of 90 or above." 

Specifically, crews expect to have all issues completed this weekend at Cochrane Collegiate Academy including:

  • Sink and faucets repaired. This issue appears to be caused by misuse of the bathroom fixtures.
  • Pest control treatment.
  • Cleaning and general maintenance."