Twenty years ago

STAFF and parents were taking part in a clean-up campaign in schools 20 years ago. And the reason? It was said that cleaners employed by Herts County Council did not have enough time to complete the task. So teachers, staff and parents went down on their hands and knees to ensure that schools were spotless. The cleaners were unable to complete their job because of lack of time. This had come about when the county council changed school cleaning arrangements in a cost-cutting exercise. But the situation saw questions raised at County Hall and councillors were demanding that £160,000 went into the budget to overcome the school cleaning problems. Dorothy Harrison, the then headteacher at Tannery Drift School, Royston, told The Crow at the time that staff and parents had helped during the holiday to ensure the school was clean. She claimed she had spent at least 14 days cleaning the building - and described the situation as a "disgrace". Because of the change in the arrangements, cleaners were simply concentrating on day-to-day cleaning. Former Meridian School headteacher, Graham Kingsley said: "They have reduced the cleaners hours, they have reduced holiday cleaning and staff are doing the best they can, but to be realistic the school is being kept clean at the expense of other things.