Dirty Classroom

Yesterday I headed up to Alex City for a new teacher meeting and to assess the mess in my classroom.  The meeting was helpful but slightly overwhelming, so I thought I could at least make a dent in the mess the last teacher left for me and feel productive.  I knew it was a little messy from the glimpse I had when I visited the room with the principal, but MY GOD.  There were two tall filing cabinets full of old student papers and lessons, two huge cupboards full of books and junk, two smaller cabinets full of junk, open shelves full of last year's textbooks that we will no longer be using, and two lovely dead cockroaches staring at me from the floor.  On top of that, the room was filthy!  Pretty much the only thing I got accomplished yesterday (and it is quite an accomplishment) was emptying out the big cupboard of all the books I had no use for and wiping it out with cleaning products.  I couldn't believe the books in there.  This was an English classroom, and there were history books, economics books, golf books, French books (which I kept), and old old English books that I had no use for.  I only kept about 10% of what I found, and the rest is heaped in tottering piles on a table waiting for someone to take it away.  I'm very worried that it isn't going to be taken away anytime soon, so Todd and I are going to stop there today on our way to Birmingham so that I can consult with the vice principal as to what I should do with the mess.  I have to wonder, is this normal?  Should I be the one cleaning out this previous teacher's mess?  The school has done an excellent job of welcoming me aside from the filthy classroom.  I hope this isn't a bad sign.