Outbreak of cockroaches at a school in Sector 4. Father: “Every time we called, we were directed to other institutions”

Several parents whose children study at a secondary school in District 4 of the Capital have reported a serious situation facing the school: the invasion of cockroaches. The school principal, however, seems more disturbed by the parents' effort to solve the problem than concerned with solving it.

The parents, who would have tried to get support from several institutions, finally chose to report the situation to the media. In the video images, you can see how the cockroaches are crawling in a classroom of Secondary School no. 108, behind some “undisturbed” cabinets during the last disinfestation that would have been carried out even during the ski vacation. The District 4 City Hall responded to the “Truth” request, also mentioning when the next disinfection will take place.

“A mom started killing cockroaches under her sole during the session”

“Adevărul” talked to several parents whose children are students in Secondary School no. 108 from Sector 4 of the Capital. The parents say that the children have talked to them in the past about the fact that there are cockroaches in the school, but none of them imagined that the problem was of such magnitude.

“Some boys in my child's class pulled out the cupboards in the back of the classroom, pushed them aside, just to see if there were cockroach nests. And indeed, as you saw in those clips, that's exactly what they found yesterday.” a parent reported.

Children discovered a nest of cockroaches in a classroom PHOTO: video capture

In the course of this week, in one of the middle school classes, there was a meeting with the parents, convened on completely different topics. Even at the meeting, the parents noticed the presence of cockroaches, so they requested explanations.

“I knew that there were problems with cockroaches in the school, but not that they were at this level. At one point, I received an informative note from the director saying that there would be a disinsection, that she asked for the support of the town hall and so on. This happened before the break between modules. And from what I understand, they intervened, but I don't know how they intervened, because it seems that there are more of them than there were before.” said the parent.

The next day, the problem of the presence of cockroaches was raised again on the parents' group. “Someone made a request to the headmistress to convey the situation to the headmistress and to give us an answer regarding what measures will be taken. Even up to this point, the headmistress has not sent us anything at all. Moreover, a good number of parents sent emails to the town hall, to the DSP, to the administration of sector 4, which deals with educational units, because wherever we called we were directed to other institutions. In the end, we ended up we point to about four such institutions, but they all say it's not their business, and we don't know where else to turn.”said the father, exasperated.

The Department of Epidemiology within the DSP, in sector 4, would also have been contacted, and from there the parents would have been told that a person would be sent to check.

In the classrooms there are also cupboards where the children keep their various things, the parents drawing their attention to check them so as not to bring home, in the bag, uninvited guests.

“When he comes from school, he undresses and first we shake out the clothes in the bathroom. We can't sit like this with the fear that they will go to school and the bugs will start crawling on their notebooks. Especially since they take packages and open them on the bank. If cockroaches walk around there overnight, that means microbes”the parent also pointed out.

“We don't want a circus, we want to solve the problem”

Cockroaches would have been noticed before, but the problem was not of such magnitude. The parents did not have the same reaction then because there were no video images that terrified them this time. “At the meeting, I actually saw a mother crushing cockroaches under her sole, during the meeting. It was not OK. We don't want a circus, I want this thing to be understood, we want the problem to be solved”, said the father.

The cockroaches, as far as the parents say, would not be in one classroom, but in several of the school premises.

“Our children are older, they take care, but let's think about the children in the small classes. And even among the adults there were children who were not too scared, but there were also affected children. It really is a problem. You take them in your bag, among things, you take them home, what do we do, we spread them all over the neighborhood?”added the father.

“I understood that there was a disinsection done on the Friday before the holiday”

Another parent reports the same issue that has not been resolved for several weeks. “I understand that there was a disinsection done on the Friday before the holiday itself. But when the children returned to school, they came home and kept telling us that there were a lot of cockroaches, that they found cockroaches in the cupboards. We thought he was exaggerating. Until they came to us with the footage. And indeed, there is the outbreak. We can't say it's one bug, two strays. I guess they made a nest under the parquet. I find it quite worrying. I mean, in the year 2026, in a school in the Capital, something like this exists…”, the parent explained.

The parents suspect that the disinsection was done poorly, otherwise they cannot explain why, despite repeating the operation, the problem persists.

A third parent confirmed for “Adevărul” that he sent addresses to several institutions to signal the problem for which they cannot find a solution. Each institution contacted would have given them the “hint” as to which other institution to contact.

“I sent the most recent referral today. DSP answered me on the phone that it is not their responsibility and to call ASSMB (Administration of Hospitals and Medical Services Bucharest). ASSMB did not answer me at all. DGAUIS (General Directorate for the Administration of Education and Sports Units Sector 4) did not respond at all, and the City Hall of Sector 4 gave me confirmation of reading the notification”, said the parent.

However, something happened as a result of the parents' initiative. On Thursday, March 5, the headmistress would have entered one of the classes accompanied by representatives of the Public Health Directorate (DSP) and, very angry, would have addressed the children, telling them to specify whose parent she had reported. It wouldn't be the first time, says the parent, when because parents dare to take a stance on various aspects that should be regulated in school, the ones who suffer are the children.

“If the headmistress is in I don't know how many disinsection operations, as she said and how she notified us, it means that you are also aware of the problem we have in the school. We are also trying to understand why she is not at least satisfied that we have taken our time, that we also have work and the boss is beating us over the head with problems, let's take steps to solve the problem”. added the father.

The response of the District 4 City Hall

The representatives of Bucharest Sector 4 City Hall whom I asked for a point of view regarding the situation in Secondary School no. 108 quickly forwarded it. A new disinsection action will be carried out on Friday, March 6, after the school itself made a request in this regard.

“Following your request, regarding the situation reported at Secondary School no. 108, we are sending you the fact that, at the end of tomorrow, with the completion of the courses, a new disinsection action will take place in the premises of the educational unit, as a result of an address sent by the school management to the General Directorate for the Administration of Educational, Sports and Cultural Units, Sector 4.

The parents also sent notifications to various institutions PHOTO: parents' archive

We mention the fact that, until the submission of this answer, no similar requests from other school units were registered at the General Directorate for the Administration of Education, Sports and Culture Units Sector 4″. answered the representatives of the town hall, through the press office.

The disinsection action would be the third carried out since the beginning of the calendar year, the representatives of the town hall also confirmed.

“I don't think it's ethical to act on a first impulse”

I got in touch with the school director, Florina Șîrdei. The discussion was hallucinatory. “Everyone has taken away all the dignity of the teachers.” Asked what cockroaches have to do with teachers' dignity, the headmistress repeated that “the media took away the last drop of dignity that a teacher has” addressing topics of this kind.

He then suggested that we were interested in a “scandalous” subject and that the parents who eventually also addressed the media “I don't know if they are parents in good faith or in bad faith.” To the simple question – Are there cockroaches in the school? – addressed again, the director avoided the answer. He instead stated that there is “all the time” a collaboration with the local authority, that the school premises are permanently monitored from the point of view of hygiene and sanitary conditions and that “there is a permanent dialogue between the family, children and teachers”.

Then followed a strange statement to say the least: “We know that cockroaches are attracted to a clean environment, yes? (…) And all the time when such situations arise, there is DSP, there is the town hall, there are parents, there are legal procedures that we apply in the school”the director also said.

In the correspondence with the parents, the director of the Secondary School no. 108 acknowledged, however, on February 13, that the disinsection procedure has been carried out five times since the beginning of the school year and that the results, however, are not satisfactory.

“(…) Unfortunately, the results were not entirely satisfactory, and the problem persists. Considering that there is a week of vacation coming up, during which the children will not be present in school, we believe that it is an appropriate time for a more extensive and effective intervention. I asked the teachers on duty to return to the unit towards the end of this week for a thorough sanitization of the benches and all common spaces. It is very important for us that after the application of the disinfestants the premises remain unused for 3-4 days to allow the substance to work properly, and then we carry out a thorough cleaning. In the case of using stronger substances, we want to ensure that when children return from holiday they will enter a safe environment.

I cannot accurately assess the effectiveness of the substances used so far. Addresses and requests in this regard have been sent repeatedly, but the situation has not been completely remedied. We do not know at this time if, upon returning to school, the problem will be definitively resolved. In this context, any support from you is welcome. We are waiting for you in the school to install, in the designated places, the materials or devices that you have purchased (n. ed. – the parents offered to supplement the disinfestation action by buying other substances, but in the end they were not allowed to use them, arguing that the disinfestation was carried out). Thank you for your involvement and constant support”the head of the school unit told them on February 13.

On Friday, March 6, 2026, a new disinsection action will take place, an aspect confirmed to the parents of the class groups.