No bedbugs found in Central Valley schools – The Times Telegram

Times Telegram

ILION There is no evidence of live or dead bedbugs in any of the four Central Valley Central School District buildings.

That is the final determination after a team of three trained dogs and their handlers checked each of the school buildings over the weekend, according to a news release issued by the district Tuesday.

Representatives from Orkin Pest Control met with district Superintendent Rich Hughes, district Director of Buildings and Grounds Brady Boyd and district Business Manager Ken Long Tuesday to deliver their report, according to the release.

Orkin representatives explained the dogs can smell live bedbugs and eggs, according to the release. The dogs noses are sensitive enough to detect faintest traces of the insects, according to the release. They said a child living in a home with live bedbugs could transmit that odor to school on a backpack or jacket. The insect would not be present, but the dogs would know that something had literally touched something that touched a bedbug or something that a bedbug had touched, according to the release.

The dogs alerted Orkin staff to 65 sites where something from a bedbug environment had touched. The release noted the dogs didnt alert staff to any scents in the Central Valley Academy lobby or near the library wall where a student reportedly snapped the photos he posted to social media, according to the release. None of the alerts revealed the presence of bedbugs, according to the release.

The district announced in the release that it has no plans to treat the buildings. The release stated that without any evidence of bedbugs present, the Orkin representatives said it would be irresponsible to apply any preventative pesticides. School officials do, however, plan to work with Orkin to train Central Valley staff to identify bed bugs and ways to avoid a bed bug infestation, according to the release.

"We hope this lays to rest anyones concerns regarding bed bugs in school," Hughes said in the release. "The district spent $9,000, fielded numerous messages from concerned families, and saw students education interrupted. This has been a learning experience for all of us."

Read the original post:
No bedbugs found in Central Valley schools - The Times Telegram