One persistent issue that has been affecting NVD is the mice infiltrating cafeterias, classrooms, and gyms within the school. 

Students from all grades have been affected by the issue, feeling emotions ranging from disgust, stress, fear, and sadness. Although not everyone has seen dead mice, even hearing about the issue may negatively impact someone’s experience at school.

“It hasn’t affected me personally, but I’ve seen people post pictures of mice, and I think it’s important to deal with because it can potentially expose people to sicknesses,” senior Madeline Kim said. 

Additionally, it is not only about how it affects the student body but also the school environment as well. Besides the emotional or psychological impact the problem can have on NVD as a whole, if the problem worsens, there is a possibility that some people can catch the harmful diseases the mice carry.

“Rodents spread more than 35 diseases. These diseases can be spread to humans: directly, through handling of rodents; through contact with rodent feces, urine, or saliva; or through rodent bites; and indirectly, through ticks, mites or fleas that have fed on an infected rodent,” a member of the United States Environmental Protection Agency in an epa.gov article regarding rodents and schools said. 

In order to fix this problem, students have seen faculty and staff members clean after lunch periods and at the end of school days. However, despite the school’s attempts at resolving this issue, many students believe that the school should take more responsibility for the problem. 

“I do think they should take more responsibility and action to solve the issue because students shouldn’t have to get an education in a mice infested environment,” senior Gabriela Gomez said. 

Some students, especially seniors as they have been at NVD the longest, believe that the school should be more proactive regarding the problem because they have not seen that much of a change for the better.

“There hasn’t really been an improvement. I remember the last time someone told me they saw a mouse was just a week or two ago,” Gomez said. 

Because students already have to worry about their academic performance and social connections during school, it can feel unfair or uncomfortable for some students to have to deal with the “mice issue” as well. 

“The issue negatively impacts the school environment because it has become an addition to a plethora of things that students have to worry about,” Kim said. 

Ultimately, it is important for both students and faculty to work together to make the school a safer environment and eventually resolve the issue.