Because you asked

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By Bobbi Mlynar (Contact)

Monday, August 25, 2008

Q I heard that some Emporia school district custodians were ordered to dispose of toothbrushes and dental floss still individually sealed in cellophane, as well as disposing of unopened reams of copy paper. Is any or all of that true, or is it just a rumor?

A Part of the information is true, but the new merchandise did not come from the school district, according to Nancy Horst, community relations director for the district.

“One of our custodians did report seeing in a trash can some toothbrushes and dental floss still in their original packaging,” Horst said. “However, the custodian had not been told to throw the items away. The supplies were not school property. They apparently belonged to a community agency moving out of one of our buildings.”

Horst said that a district check with custodians revealed that no one knew anything about unopened reams of copy paper being thrown in the trash.

“Custodians routinely check the trash for valuables such as textbooks that might have mistakenly fallen into the trash, but they are careful not to rummage through trash, to avoid injury,” she said.

A spokesman for Early Head Start, which had moved from the Maynard building to a new center this summer, said that agency also was not responsible for the incident.

“Obviously we didn’t,” said Richard Jackson, chief executive officer of ECKAN, under which Early Head Start operates.

“If it’s usable, good stuff, we would have taken it when we moved from the building,” Jackson said. “It is possible that they could have left stuff there” that was found later.

“I don’t believe it was us,” he said.

• Readers with questions on topics of local interest may submit them to “Because You Asked,” in care of The Gazette, Drawer C, Emporia KS 66801. Questions need to be signed, but names will not be revealed. Unsigned questions will not be answered.