School officials: Moldy mat highlighted by former first selectwoman has been cleaned
BROOKFIELD — School officials say they’ve cleaned a moldy gym mat that sparked outcry on social media after the former first selectwoman shared a picture of it on Facebook.
Brookfield Schools Superintendent John Barile said Monday the mat, which was found at Whisconier Middle School, was cleaned as soon as he learned about the mold.
“Health and safety is always the number one priority,” he said, adding soon after he informed the school principal and facility supervisor, the custodial team cleaned the mat.
He added, however, the mat that had mold, and others near it, are used for “bases,” as a barrier to hard equipment, and for which students have minimal to no contact.
“Students stand on them and run on them, and … the mat is often wrapped around volleyball stands to serve as padding so that students do not run directly into the metal stands, which are stored in a corner of the gym,” he said.
He added those mats “are not used for gymnastics or other floor exercise-type activities.”
Brookfield Selectwoman Tara Carr said she discovered the mat while helping her eighth grade daughter pick up mats after her daughter’s basketball game at Whisconier Middle School.
“I was totally disgusted and I said, ‘Get off the mats’ and I didn’t want to touch them because of their state,” said Carr, who was the town’s first selectman from 2021 to 2023.
When Carr went home, she wrote about the incident on social media and posted photos of the moldy mat that she took while she was at the gym. Her post received over 100 comments from the community.
“There are hundreds of people with children going in and out of that place from Friday night through Saturday, for different games. It’s just such a shame,” Carr added. “I want to alert the town that this is what’s in the gym. Don’t let your kids play on it. … I feel like it’s my duty to openly share with the public. They deserve to know.”
In regard to cleaning schedules at Whisconier, Barile said the custodians clean the school building and physical education staff are responsible for the physical education equipment.
He said when he inspected the mat in question, he said he saw that it’s worn out and in “deteriorating condition,” and that it’s likely an original mat from the 1970s and 1980s. He added the district plans to discard those mats and replace them, as the school budget allows.
“If a custodian, PE teacher or any other staff member or parent has a concern about cleaning, they are always invited to report the information to the school leadership,” he added.