Last Monday, the day before Peabody students returned to school, some community members took to Facebook to voice their concerns that the grounds outside of Captain Samuel Brown Elementary School were littered with garbage and other debris.
Many called for the City to take accountability for not ensuring all of its schools were properly maintained and ready for the next day’s students.
In response, Mayor Ted Bettencourt took to Facebook last Friday. He began by noting that “there were some wonderful things that happened and then some things that were a problem” during Peabody’s first week of school.
“There has been a lot of discussion about the city’s failure to clean up the area around the Brown school, including the playground as well as a couple of other school spots. There has been some finger-pointing, but ultimately it’s my responsibility, and I didn’t get it done,” he wrote. “There (were) so many projects and clean ups we have been trying to get accomplished during the summer, and a couple of spots got missed.
“I want to apologize to the Brown school students, families and teachers. We are meeting internally to make sure the roles and responsibilities are clear, and I will make sure through these meetings that protocols are properly established so we don’t have these misses happen again.”
