Puyallup School District works to stop bat infiltration at elementary school
Bats infiltrate Puyallup elementary school
Puyallup School District officials say they keep finding bats inside Edgerton Elementary School and are actively working to figure out how they keep getting there.
PUYALLUP, WA - School officials and pest control experts are investigating how bats are entering Edgerton Elementary School in Puyallup, after seven bats were discovered inside the building over a two-week period.
Despite repeated discoveries, district inspections have found no evidence that the bats are roosting inside the school, and officials have not yet identified a specific entry point.
Seven bats found across 2 weeks
Timeline:
District officials confirmed five separate incidents involving bats at the school:
Sept. 29: A dead bat was found in an upstairs mechanical room.
Sept. 28: A live bat was discovered underneath the door to the mechanical room.
Sept. 23: A night-shift custodian found two live bats in the downstairs kindergarten hallway. They were safely contained and removed.
Sept. 17: A teacher spotted a live bat in the downstairs main hallway before classes began.
Sept. 14: Teachers discovered two live bats in the downstairs hallway near the cafeteria and gym. According to the district, one staff member came into potential contact with a bat. The health department recommended medical aid.
Straw-colored fruit bats at their daytime roosts in 'Mushitu' or ever-green swamp forest in April, 2014, at Kasanka National Park in Zambia. (ick Garbutt / Barcroft Media / Barcroft Media via Getty Images))
Remediation, mitigation efforts
What they're saying:
Staff and pest control professionals are inspecting potential entry points, including doors, windows, screens, mechanical spaces, and structural gaps.
Maintenance crews are conducting daily interior and exterior inspections while performing immediate repairs. Measures include replacing hallway ceiling tiles outside the cafeteria, installing new door sweeps and sealing and screening potential openings.
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department has been notified and is receiving updates each time new bat activity is discovered.
An official with the health department says the district asked if they should close Edgerton Elementary, and the health department did not recommend closure.
Health safety protocols, state regulations
Why you should care:
All bat species in Washington are classified as protected wildlife. While state laws strictly regulate handling, the district is permitted to safely remove bats from the facility.
District officials advise students and staff who spot a bat to avoid touching the animal, leave the area immediately and report the sighting to school personnel.
If a child comes into physical contact with a bat, parents should contact their healthcare provider and notify the school and district immediately.
According to the Washington State Department of Health, human rabies is extremely rare. There have been two cases of human rabies identified in Washington over the last 75 years. Both of those cases were deadly and happened within two years of each other (1995 and 1997).
The Source: Information for this story came from the Puyallup School District and FOX 13 Seattle original reporting.
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