Bed Bugs Plague two Staten Island Schools

Posted on December 20, 2010 with 3 Comments

SILive reports that in the 2009-2010, school year there have been over 1,019 bed bug infestations in United States public schools, up about 100% from previous years. Dongan Hills as well as Morris Intermediate School on Staten Island have confirmed that they in fact have contacted pest control operators and have had several classrooms treated. However, since schools are such large establishments, it is not cost effective for the school board to have the entire school inspected and treated. When a bed bug is found at a school it is sent for testing to confirm in fact it is a bed bug. Once confirmed, all parents are sent letters informing them that the school has bed bugs, and the infested classrooms will be treated. While this is nice and all, it is not ideal for the type of establishment that is infested. Students and materials travel room to room on a daily basis, creating a perfect environment for bed bugs to spread. However, school budgets prevent the entire school from being inspected and treated.

“Unfortunately, it’s enormously cost prohibitive because it is so expensive to treat these areas,” he said. “It costs thousands and thousands of dollars to take care of a school. We have the same issue that goes on in the healthcare industry, where they just treat that particular area.”

-Mark Loffredo, Pest Control Operator.

A more cost effective solution would be to have monthly K9 inspections to ensure that the infestation has not spread, as well as a double check for the treatments that have been done.

Picture source: visitingdc.com