The principal at Mount Hebron High School said he?s received no reports of rats entering the building this year, but the school system confirmed evidence of a female rat and some babies in the courtyard.
Teachers, whose identifies are not being revealed by The Examiner , said six rats fell from the ceiling onto a cafeteria table on Wednesday. School system officials sent an e-mail to parents on Friday denying the incident and said a joint Howard County Health Department and school system inspection found no traces of rats anywhere in the building.
“I don?t have any confirmed reports of rats in the cafeteria on Wednesday,” said principal David Brown. “Nor are there any in the building today.”
Patti Caplan, the school system?s spokeswoman, also denied the cafeteria incident and said the principal has not heard any reports or complaints of rats inside the building. She acknowledged Brown was made aware of a videotape showing rats in the courtyard, but he has not seen it.
Caplan added that at this time of year mice are common in many schools and said a mouse was spotted by a student in a classroom on Friday. That prompted Mount Hebron to “immediately” set up traps, Caplan said.
An application of pesticide was applied to an existing rat borrow on Friday in the courtyard and will continue as needed throughout the week. The courtyardis a grassy open space within the footprint of the building.
“We?ve set up some bait boxes and hope to have the situation taken care of over the weekend,” Caplan said.
Mark Hardin, a pest-management specialist with the school system, and two Howard County Health Department employees with the Bureau of Environmental Health inspected the school.
“They were looking for a place where the rodents can live and hide ? harborage issues ? and also for food sources like a Dumpster,” said Lisa de Hernandez, public information officer for the Health Department. “The rats didn?t appear to make access to the inside of the building.”
No evidence of any rat droppings or disturbed ceiling tiles were found in the cafeteria, kitchen and food preparation area, Caplan said.
Senior Andy McCloskey, 17, witnessed the rats scurrying around outside in the courtyard on Wednesday. He said there were at least three.
“Some of the other kids came to watch, and they [the rats] went under a ramp. I assume they get in the building somehow,” he said. “If you want to see rats, come to Mount Hebron.”
Carolyn Rosenvold, 17, also a senior, said rat and other rodent sightings have been a part of her high school years, and she?s getting tired of it. During her freshman year she said a mouse fell from the ceiling and hit a kid on the head.
“We?ve seen mice running around in the girls locker room,” she said. “The teachers and principals say only that the school?s safe, which no one believes.”
Help Mount Hebron ? a parent group asking the school to address safety concerns ? issued a statement by e-mail regarding the situation, still calling it an “ongoing, chronic problem” and “a matter of concern.”
It referenced several cases where rats were discovered inside the building in past years, including a rat found in the art room last year and one that was beaten to death by staff in the cafeteria two years ago.
