Monthly Archives: February 2017

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A D.C. elementary school is shutting its doors to students for "several weeks" after rodents and bed bugs were discovered at the school.

D.C. Public Schools sent a letter to parents of Savoy Elementary School students on Friday, saying workers would thoroughly clean the school building and replace all soft materials, including rugs, cots, blankets and pillows, on Monday, Feb. 6 and Tuesday, Feb. 7.

The school, at 2400 Shannon Place, Southeast, will have to pass a safety and health inspection after the cleaning, according to the letter.

While the school is cleaned and inspected, the school will temporarily relocate. DCPS officials said they would update parents by 3 p.m. Sunday about the temporary location.

"We will also communicate where Savoy students can access meal service (breakfast, lunch and supper) on Monday and Tuesdsay, as well as a plan for transportation to teh new location if necessary," read the letter from DCPS Chancellor Antwan Wilson.

According to DCPS Press Secretary Michelle Lerner, Savoy Elementary students "will be at a different building location for several weeks" before they can go back to the school. Lerner did not give further information about the other location.

Parents who have concerns about their child's health should contact their doctor, Wilson advised in the letter.

Stay with News4 and NBCWashington.com for more information.

Published at 4:32 PM EST on Feb 3, 2017 | Updated at 7:44 AM EST on Feb 4, 2017

See more here:
Bed Bugs, 'Pests' Found at DC Elementary School, Officials Say ... - NBC4 Washington

WASHINGTON Due to bedbugs and other pests, Savoy Elementary School will be closed Monday and Tuesday for a thorough cleaning, D.C. public schools officials said Friday.

In a letter sent to parents, Chancellor Antwan Wilson said all soft materials in the building, including rugs, cots, blankets and pillows, would be replaced. The school would then be inspected by the health department.

The letter stated that school officials planned to tell parents by 3 p.m. Sunday where school will be held during the cleaning. The Department of General Services started cleaning the school Friday evening.

The closure comes amidst parents complaints that rats, mice and bedbugs have been a problem since November. The school is located at 2400 Shannon Place Southeast.

Some of the rodent concerns were addressed on the schools Facebook page on Jan. 16. The post stated that a mass trapping for rodents had been conducted over the winter holiday and that a pest control company has performed an extensive assessment of the school.

The posting disputed that there was a bedbug infestation, though Fridays letter referenced the recent threat of pests and bed bugs as the reason for the closure. There wasnt a clear time frame given for how long the cleaning would take. Michelle Lerner, a spokeswoman for the school system, said in an email that officials planned to provide updates to parents on Sunday regarding where students should plan to attend school for the next several weeks.

We will also communicate where Savoy students can access meal service (breakfast, lunch, and supper) on Monday and Tuesday, Lerner said.

Parents were advised to direct health related questions to their doctors.

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Originally posted here:
DC school to close due to bedbugs, pests | WTOP - WTOP

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