The Virginian-Pilot
©
PORTSMOUTH
Mount Hermon Preschool Center will be closed today, the second day in a row, after the discovery of bedbugs.
Students won't return until at least Wednesday so staff members can restock rooms with mats, rugs, chairs and other items to replace those that were tossed.
About 250 children, ages 2 to 5, attend the school.
A teacher discovered a bug Friday afternoon, said Maureen Mizelle, division spokeswoman.
The teacher put the bug in a bag. On Friday night, an exterminating company determined it was a bedbug. Bugs were found in two classrooms, and the company declared Mount Hermon "a hot zone," Mizelle said.
Mizelle said none of the division's other schools has reported the bugs, nor have any other divisions in South Hampton Roads.
Over the weekend, crews threw away all materials that could harbor the bedbugs, Mizelle said, and fumigated the entire building.
"There is no way of knowing what the source of the bugs was, but they are confident that this procedure has killed any of the living bugs," she said.
The company is scheduled to evaluate the building in about two weeks.
If students are allowed back Wednesday as planned, they'll leave their coats and backpacks in sealed plastic bags and take home letters about the incident and a fact sheet on bedbugs.
Pilot writers Elisabeth Hulette, Hattie Brown Garrow and Steven G. Vegh contributed to this report.
Cheryl Ross, (757) 446-2443, cheryl.ross@pilotonline.com
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Bed bug control
This is a shame because throwing things away solves nothing. There is so much misinformation! Greenbug for People is 100% effective in killing adults, eggs and larva of bed bugs and it is completely safe and natural. Food grade safe! EPA exempt because it poses no risk whatsoever to humans, animals or the environment! Ask the professional exterminators to use Greenbug for People - NOT TOXIC CHEMICALS! The chemicals don't get rid of the bed bugs - they become immune yet we get left with poisonous fumes and residual pesticides. I agree, the source must be found and dealt with. However, until that source is located, all belongings, coats, gloves, etc. the kids bring to school each morning can be lightly sprayed with Greenbug for People to kill any bed
I used to work at Mt. Hermon
I used to work at Mt. Hermon school and this is the first time I heard
about this ordeal. I just hope that they got it under control
Bugs in Portsmouth...what a
Bugs in Portsmouth...what a shocker!
Add to the SOLs the following ....
"Sleep tight. Don't let the bed bugs bite."
hahah
No other schools have reported. This is probably so. Check into this statement. There are bed bugs, mice, roaches, and other bugs in most of the buildings. Those buildings that they aren't in is because there isn't any heat therefore it is to cold for them to live. My child has sat in a room at his school for over a month with no heat and get yelled at for wearing his hat to keep warm.
Probably brought in by
Probably brought in by someone from home. Unless the source is found, they will be back.
Bye Bye bedbugs
Just open the windows...
the cold air will kill 'em.
No
it wont, they'll hide in the walls.