Pest control services were recently contacted to help treat St. John the Baptist Parish school district facilities in New Orleans, Louisiana. Currently the school district has more than 28 work orders active for pest control services that have yet to be fulfilled.
Pest problems found in the school include ants and field mice. Some snakes were also found loose in the East St. John High School in 2011. The number of pest reports is troubling parents and faculty, The Times-Picayune reported.
According to school district administrators, the fault is not with the pest control company, but with the school district, which has failed to sufficiently communicate the district's problems to the company. Many administrators told custodians about the pest problems, not realizing members of the school district had to be contacted directly for pest control services to be called, the source reported.
The Monroe Public Schools district in Toledo, Ohio, has also been overrun with pests, particularly bed bugs. Robert Vergiels, a spokesman for the school district, told the Toledo Blade that the insects were discovered in a locker and classroom in a local elementary school building. Administrators believe a student brought the bed bugs in from their home or somewhere outside the school. The suspected children have not been allowed back into the school, for fear of spreading more bugs to other students.