Parents report illness, mice at OISD
Several parents attended the Olney school board’s Sept. 23 meeting to inform trustees that their children were suffering from an allergic-type reaction to what they believe is a mice infestation on the campuses.
The children became ill with hives and rashes a week or so after the start of classes, and appear to worsen after spending time on campus, the parents said during the public comment period.
The children in question attend Olney Elementary School and Olney Junior High School, but children at the high school also have reported seeing rodents, the parents said.
“At first I thought it was mosquito bites … it was just bumps all over his body,” Kani Weekes said. “Friday I was on Facebook and saw that he was not the only child who had a rash that week, so I was alarmed.”
The parents say they have not received a definitive diagnosis from doctors but wanted to know if the district has used new chemicals or cleaners. “For me, I just want answers. My son is miserable. I’m just worried and … if there is a solution and we can do something about it and there is possibly something going on at the school … no child should go through this.”
Bree DeVries said her son Cole also suffered a rash “all over his face, his neck, and on his arms” and will have to undergo allergy testing.
“I’m just going to say it. I have heard from teachers, from parents, from students – there is a mice infestation at the elementary school. They do carry mice, the ammonia in their urine can cause kids to get sick. My daughter saw them in a third grade classroom. My son has seen them in the lights which means they are in the vents. It could be going into a respiratory issue.”
Her son reported seeing a fellow student holding a wild mouse in the high school, she said.
Lindsey Hickam said her daughter, Landrie, developed hives on her chest and back at school, and has suffered from anaphylaxis, meaning that she can go into shock and have facial swelling and breathing difficulty in an extreme allergic reaction.
“We have a list of 10 students in this district (three junior high and seven elementary students) that are having issues,” Mrs. Hickam said. “I’m with you and I hope you guys are with us ... the issue is within the school facility. I don’t know if it’s an air freshener, a toilet paper - what it is. It’s something in the elementary,” she said.
By Friday, the City code enforcement department inspected the elementary school and the cafeteria, which is attached to the elementary school. The district maintenance staff laid down more traps and turned to nontoxic repellants.
The school district is limited in what remedies it can use, OISD Maintenance Director Homer Molina said.
“We have used the same cleaners since I got here,” Mr. Molina said. The district has stepped up its use of sticky traps -- the only remedy allowed in schools, he added.
A week later, OISD Board of Trustees president Summer Branum said the problem was “tapering off so to me that says it’s working or there are fewer mice.”
“They are also using a kid-safe substance that we hadn’t used before,” she said.
Although the situation appears to be improving, the rodent remediation efforts will continue throughout the year, Mrs. Branum said.
“In a building that large that’s just something you have to stay on top of,” she said.