Hamilton parents speak out about bats found in school
HAMILTON, Miss. (WCBI) – A Monroe County community is raising concerns about the health and safety of its school..
This comes after online posts about an unusual infestation in their hometown school.
A Facebook post about the presence of bats in the Hamilton Attendance Center has parents alarmed.
They are concerned about their children’s health and whether or not the school district is doing enough to protect them.
Hamilton has had quite a reputation for its Baseball and Softball programs in the past, but these days, another kind of bat is causing a stir.
Social media posts about bats flying inside the Hamilton Attendance Center and insects in the school’s cafeteria have parents concerned and looking for answers.
“I feel like it needs to be handled, and it’s not being handled, and it’s a very nasty situation,” Jeana Tucker said. “Bats can carry diseases, fungal diseases, viruses, and all kinds of stuff like that. They are extremely harmful to humans.”
“If something like this comes up again, I don’t know if you will feel safe cause you don’t know if they would lie to cover their tails again, instead of just being honest about the situation and say hey look parents we’re sorry we did not know it was this bad and we dropped the ball,” Anonymous parent said. “Take accountability for what you are doing.”
Dr. Chad O’Brian, Superintendent for the Monroe County School District, issued a statement to parents laying out plans for handling the incident.
He said the district has made and will continue to make every effort to maintain a clean and safe environment for its students.
The district said it has spent nearly $30,000 to address the airborne invaders.
“No expense will be spared or resource left unused as we continue to make the safety and health of our students our top priority,” O’Brian said.
Parents said after reading the statement they are still concerned about whether their children will have a safe and healthy place to study and eat.
“We send out kids to school hoping that they are going to be safe and taken care of and they are in a clean environment, then I found this out,” Tucker said. “The fact that it has been going on for as long as it has says that they’re not doing their jobs like they are supposed to and I think that it needs to be handled.”
O’ Brian said they have already contacted the Mississippi Department of Health and Mississippi Department of Education about the problem.
The Monroe County School District said it has also been in contact with Wildlife Removal experts to expedite the process of permanently removing the bats.
