A Starr’s Mill High School student’s report of a rat’s tail hanging from the ceiling on April 23 quickly got the attention of school officials who had pest control operators on the scene and laying traps within the hour.
School system spokesperson Melinda Berry-Dreisbach said a student reported seeing the tail hanging from the ceiling. Students were moved to another classroom and the rat was removed and disposed of by school staff, Berry-Dreisbach said.
“Rats are not running around in the halls and classrooms,” she said, adding that, “They have been in the ceiling sporadically all year-long and staff said they can hear them in the ceiling. Maintenance has responded every time and they have been trapping and removing (the rats) throughout the year.”
Fayette County School System Facilities Director Mike Satterfield on Thursday said the pest control company was notified immediately after the rat was reported and was on-site within the hour, laying both sticky traps and regular traps.
Berry-Dreisbach said maintenance staff now, and in the past, are using traps, peppermint oil and poison, to a limited extent.
Satterfield on Friday said another rat was seen in the school’s courtyard area on a previous occasion. It is in the courtyard area that bird feeders and a compost pile used by science classes were located. Both have been removed from the courtyard, said Satterfield.
Adding to the presence of rats on the campus, Satterfield said, “There is a lot of grading work and small construction projects around the school and in the nearby heavily-wooded wetland areas,” Satterfield said.
