Daily Archives: February 6, 2017

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Aaron Doughty appears borderline frustrated and understandably anxious with D.C. school and health officials.

A father of two girls who attend Alfred Kiger Savoy Elementary School, Mr. Doughty and other parents learned by way of TV news that the school is infested with bedbugs and rodents.

A rodent problem might be understood, since Savoy sits hard by the Anacostia River. Bedbugs, not so much.

Whats truly troublesome is that school officials were aware of the infestation last year, which means they had the whole Christmas break to clear out classrooms, treat the problem, and return or buy classroom materials.

Mr. Doughty took pictures of his girls bedbug bites and allowed them to be broadcast on WTTG-Channel 5, which first reported the story.

He said his daughters, 9 and 10 years old, would not return to Savoy until the problems are resolved. He said the girls bug bites began around Christmas.

They wont be back because they have several bites on them, and Im very concerned about the situation, he said. I will not be sending them to school.

D.C. does have a serious bedbug problem. Orkin, a leader in the pest control industry, lists the nations capital as the No. 2 center for bedbug infestation. Baltimore is No. 1, and Chicago and New York follow D.C. (In case youre interested, Houston, site of Super Bowl LI, holds the 17th spot on the top 50 list.)

Mr. Doughty isnt the only parent who took city health and school officials to task.

This is not how you should notify parents of rats and bedbugs, another parent told Channel 5. I had to see it on the news. Then, the school doesnt notify the parents until four days later.

As for school authorities, they issued this statement: We were made aware of an incident of bedbugs at Savoy Elementary School, and we hired professional cleaning contractors to thoroughly clean the school, developed an ongoing cleaning plan for the building, and ordered new nap mats with 2-foot risers. We are working with the school and the community to be vigilant in keeping unwanted pests from entering the building.

Reassuring? Not really.

Although officials implemented a three-day-a-week extermination and cleaning plan, a key mistake is allowing students, school personnel, parents and visitors to continue to come and go at Savoy, a pre-K through fifth-grade school.

Bedbugs are unwanted transplants because they travel on and in whatever they cling to. If infested backpacks and clothing are carried home from an infested school, the critters make the return trip to the freshly sanitized school in the infested gear.

Rodents and other four-legged pests dont stay away simply because the exterminator tells them to leave.

Clearly, authorities with the D.C. Health Department need a sustained public profile on this problem.

I say that because, as I stood outside Savoy yesterday afternoon, I wondered whether the trash bins, brooms and mop buckets I saw near the Savoy kids eating area were free of bedbugs or if the room itself was clear of rodents, which generally come and go as they please. The adults appeared as oblivious as the kids.

This was hardly welcome news to the Districts public schools chancellor, Antwan Wilson, who marked his first day on the job yesterday.

The D.C. Health Department informs on its website: Bedbugs feed only on the blood of warm-blooded hosts. They can conceal themselves in any tight crack or crevice, and are often found in padding, such as mattresses and box springs. They can also hide behind electrical faceplates, baseboards, folded areas of beds, bedding, adjacent furniture, picture frames, wallpaper and nearly anywhere inside a shelter, apartment, or structure.

Schools and other educational environs should be added to that list.

Deborah Simmons can be contacted at dsimmons@washingtontimes.com.

Read the rest here:
Health emergency at DC school with infestation of rodents, bedbugs - Washington Times

FOX 5's Tisha Lewis reports.

WASHINGTON - Some parents at Savoy Elementary School in Southeast D.C. are fuming over a bed bug and rodent problem at their childrens school.

The school told FOX 5 that they sent a letter home with students saying professionals were hired to get rid of the pests. But some parents told us that the problem is still persisting.

On Tuesday, one parent wrote to us and said:

"This is not how you should notify parents of rats and bed bugs. I had to see it on the news. Then, the school doesn't notify the parents until 4 days later."

The school district said they are working on the problem, but for some parents, that is not enough. Aaron Doughty, another Savoy Elementary parent, said he plans to keep his kids out of school until the problem is resolved.

They won't be back because they have several bites on them and Im very concerned about the situation, he said. I will not be sending them to school.

Doughty added, I made a few calls and once I hear something back about them properly taking care of the situation, then I will consider sending them back, but I have to protect them.

Doughty had photos showing what he said are bed bug bites on his 9- and 10-year-old daughters. He said the bed bug bites started around Christmas and have only gotten worse.

He said the school nurse told him the school was infested with bed bugs months ago, but it was only this past Friday that D.C. Public Schools sent home a letter to parents describing what the school district called an increase of unwanted pests in the building.

Doughty was not satisfied with the correspondence.

The school district said in December, the school was placed on a 3-day-a-week extermination schedule. D.C. Public Schools released a statement last week saying:

"We were made aware of an incident of bed bugs at Savoy Elementary School, and we hired professional cleaning contractors to thoroughly clean the school, developed an ongoing cleaning plan for the building, and ordered new nap mats with two-foot risers. We are working with the school and the community to be vigilant in keeping unwanted pests from entering the building."

The rest is here:
Parents irked about bed bug problem at Savoy Elementary School in DC - FOX 5 DC

D.C. Schools Chancellor Antwan Wilson appeared on FOX 5 Friday and said he issues at Savoy Elementary are extremely import to him. "We want to make sure that the school is safe. That everyone is healthy. And, you know, I'm looking to get to the botto

WASHINGTON - Several people who say they are teachers at D.C.'s Savoy Elementary School have told FOX 5 that they will not report to school today following ongoing reports of problems with bed bugs and rodents inside of the building.

An emergency meeting about the reported infestation was held Thursday but provided few answers for outraged parents. Representatives from D.C. Public Schools, the Department of General Services, and The Department of Health were at the meeting to talk about the reported issues; however, parents say a clear solution on how to address the problem was not given.

FOX 5's Melanie Alnwick was at the school Friday morning and said that the 'sick-out' was not school-wide and that some teachers were seen going into the building. She also spoke with the Teacher's Union who told her they were not aware of how many teachers the 'sick-out' involved.

Many parents at Thursday's meeting told FOX 5 that they wanted the school closed until the problem was resolved. Many shared their fear of possibly contaminating their own homes with bed bugs brought back into the house with their children.

D.C. Schools Chancellor Antwan Wilson appeared on FOX 5 Friday and said he issues at Savoy Elementary are extremely import to him. "We want to make sure that the school is safe. That everyone is healthy. And, you know, I'm looking to get to the bottom of this," he said.

Wilson said work has been carried out to make sure that the school is properly cleaned. He said that more work is being scheduled to address all problems in the building.

He said he wasn't able to attend Thursday's meeting but it was important to him that the school system be in continuously communication with parents, students, and staff regarding the situation.

Wilson also said that moving students to different schools or to a different building while the infestation issues are addressed may be an option.

Read more here:
School bed bug, rodent issues prompt some to hold 'sick-out' as Chancellor continues investigation - FOX 5 DC