Twitter users swap stories of gross conditions in Virginia schools

A Dogwood news story about mold in a Northern Virginia classroom that made students sick underwhelmed many Virginians on Twitter, who said they’ve seen far worse in their state’s public schools. Below, we round-up their grossest tales.

But first, for context, here’s the original tweet.

That big splotch of mold in the photo, the likes of which were spotted on classroom walls in Alexandria’s George Washington Middle School, graced thousands of Virginians’ twitter feeds earlier this month.

Mold in schools — gross, right? Sure, but “not to mention the cockroaches” one Twitter user from Chesapeake replied. “And the rats,” another responded, “and the awful food,” said a third commenter.

Rodents, pests and nasty food in Virginia schools were repeatedly brought up in the article comments on social media.

In my old Virginian middle school there were rats under the auditorium floor. Not to mention the food is absolutely disgusting and overpriced

— Madi finally got her account back (@5sosfantrash) July 20, 2019

I went to high school in Virginia. Our schools were overcrowded, had rats and mice, and the walls were all temporary metal sheets so that if we had an active shooter we were unsafe. The entire condition of the school was poor. Absolutely disgusting.

— Quinn (@aestheticb_tch) July 15, 2019

A roach a day may not keep the doctor away, but, according to Leah Beaver, the average school day wouldn’t be complete without at least “two live ones and several dead ones,” either.

Yes. They are. My middle school and high school both had cockroach problems. You saw at least two live ones and several dead ones every day. Your day wasn’t complete without seeing two live ones and hella dead ones. Our vents also had decaying cat corpses somewhere in them.

— Leah Beaver (@FuckOffCicadas) July 24, 2019

Bad food, pests and rodents in isolation are one thing. However, according to Destiny from Virginia Beach, her school put them all together.

my virginian middle school had cockroaches, rats and mice in the cafeteria

— destiny higgins (@dummydestiny) July 24, 2019

With cafeterias like that, students might be better off eating in the classrooms if it were not for this tale.

Kids I know who went to some of the more underfunded elementary and middle schools in Lynchburg, VA dealt with filthy conditions and some schools had a rat drop from the ceiling at least once a month, specifically in a specific classroom, and it’s still like this.

— glitterprincess (@brillantinasyd) July 16, 2019

Need to wash that taste out of your mouth? You might not want to do it with the water fountains at Spartans Middle School in Lynchburg.

when I went to @Spartans_SMS and we continuously dealt with dirty brown water. They would tell us not to use the water fountains but the sinks were also filthy so we couldn’t wash our hands. Once they tried to get us to drink out of the fountains and a girl got seriously sick.

— glitterprincess (@brillantinasyd) July 16, 2019

Several other Twitter users took to the comments on The Dogwood’s mold article to address the taste and appearance of Virginia public school water, too.

As someone who once went to a Virginian public school I cam safely say our water wasn’t fucking water and yes, we all got sick all the time (it might just be public schools in general tho)

— yeetus (@BrendaR82407030) July 14, 2019

most of the time our water fountains were shut down because of things running through them , lmao our school are gross 😳

— ᵐ ! (@trustspml) July 15, 2019

I feel pretty sick after drinking the creek mud from the fountain

— Lucifer, Father of Demons (@father_o_demons) July 20, 2019

For nearly each person who said their school’s water was too brown, another said the water in their school tasted too much like bleach.

Been going to public school in VA for a few years now and let me tell you, there is something wrong with the water. Tastes almost like chlorine, so I started bringing my own everyday.

— Victoria 🏳️‍🌈 (@Vandervj21) July 16, 2019

at one of the schools in my area they play soccer with the cockroaches in the hallways and in literally every school the water either tastes like chlorine/ cleaning supplies or is foggy💀

— 💛🖤❤️ (@MegtheC) July 18, 2019

School walls and ceilings are in ruins, too, according to commenters.

The water in Virginia schools is disgusting. The paint is so cheap you can legit peel it off the wall in certain places. We have issues with rats and sometimes roaches.

— MsBlueNerd (@MsBlueNerd1) July 18, 2019

I was at a band concert when the chunks of the ceiling starter falling… could of killed someone but they won’t care until it does

— grace (@hattler237) July 24, 2019

Grace Marie sums up what we’ve learned so far.

I’ve got a bad mold allergy and I can attest to the mold being a big issue in our schools, not to mention the water that I swear isn’t water & the roaches 🤦🏻‍♀️ Plus the food always made people sick

— Grace Marie (@GraceMarie1016) July 15, 2019

As one user put it, “good luck,” with all of that, kids. (For those not versed in internet slang, “SMH” is an acronym for “shaking my head” and “bruh” is akin to “dude.”)

good luck legend

— dragnfroot (@dragnfroot) July 23, 2019

Despite mold, cockroaches, “chemical-tasting” or “creek mud” water, and rats and mice, at least one student is staying positive.

Or the cockroaches, Dust , the locker rooms or the chemical tasting water (there’s one water bottle full station though so that’s good) and the rats :/ also the schools are so over crowded it’s insane but I’m happy I can at least go to school 🙂

— NoraTheWerid🤠👩🏾‍💻 (@GamerGurlofYT) July 17, 2019

Share your story about the condition of Virginia schools by sending a news tip to [email protected].