Bat cleanup continues in Franklin

CENTERVILLE — The battle of the bats continues at Franklin Junior High, where school has been closed for at least five full days after the flying mammals were seen in the school’s gym and hallways.
At Thursday’s special St. Mary Parish School Board meeting, Maintenance Supervisor Brad Wiese recommended continuing procedures to remove the bats and keeping the gym off limits until the bats are gone. The silver lining: Wiese said in a written statement that the building is now very clean after more than a week of disinfecting, air filtering and mopping.
According to the statement, bat sightings were reported Feb. 12 in the gym and hall area. So the school began the disinfecting process used when staph infections are reported at middle and high schools. Three more bats were seen Feb. 14 in the gym, and students and staff members were sent home before they entered the building.
A bat excluder was put in place that day. On Feb. 15, the school remained closed, and six to 10 bats were seen outside the gym. A dead bat was found Saturday. But no bats were seen outside or in the school Sunday night.
Then, on Monday, five to 12 bats were seen in front of the gym but not in the school. Wiese’s staff recommended closing the gym until removal is complete.
Also on Monday, students and staff members complained about a strong chemical odor in the building, leading some of them to leave early. Wiese called the state Department of Health for an inspection. No strong odor was noted in the department’s report. The Department of Agriculture and Forestry also found no violations in the school’s application procedure.
On Tuesday, the maintenance staff changed all the heating and air conditioning filters, and the building was mopped. Service Master was called in to clean the building and scrub the air.
On Wednesday night, 60 bats were removed from the excluders. Service Master finished work and was to leave air filters in place until Friday.
The system hired a roofing contractor and an exterminator Thursday, when the school was closed. The roofer removed the front edge trim and roofing from the front of the gym and removed another 100 bats. More will be removed with the help of the exterminator, Wiese said.
The school was closed Friday.
The school system said in a news release that the administration will determine dates for makeup days.