Sapulpa Parent Claims District Isn’t Doing Enough To Fix Bed Bug Issue

A Sapulpa parent isn’t happy with his kids’ school after bed bugs were found at Holmes Park Elementary.

Jamie Noe claims the district isn’t doing enough to fix the problem, but the district said it’s following proper protocol from the Environmental Protection Agency after finding the bed bugs Monday.

"My understanding is they have a live bed bug problem developing there at the school and that they are not taking quite as aggressive approach or response to cure that problem or solve that problem maybe they could,” Noe said.

Noe said he believes teachers found live bed bugs crawling off students and that the district’s response does not match up with the urgency of the situation.

"I'm terrified by it. Most people tend to say that it's more of a nuisance problem than a health hazard, I would beg to differ," he said.

Noe said he's not happy that the students who brought bed bugs to school are being allowed in.

"It's extraordinarily difficult to remediate a bedbug problem," he said.

Assistant Superintendent Johnny Bilby said he's only aware of one or two students who have bed bugs, and the district is doing everything by the book.

"We had a team out last night cleaning those rooms, spraying some treatment that we have personally here at the school, and then we're in contact with a pest control company," Bilby said.

The assistant superintendent said the issue is not just a school one but is also a home issue, and that the district has made contact with the students’ parents to help them fix the situation.

"We don’t want those in our school system, nobody wants to have that issue, but it seems like lately, this is becoming an issue more and more prevalent as, not just in schools, but in hotels and everywhere," Bilby said.

The superintendent said the pest control company did an inspection Wednesday afternoon and found no live or dead bed bugs and no eggs.