Bed bugs have been confirmed in ten schools in the Syracuse City School District in the past two weeks. Superintendent Jaime Alicea said the affected rooms and buildings have been sanitized and cleaned to eliminate the bugs.
“They are not dangerous," Alicea said. 'They do not carry diseases. They are a nuisance but they are not dangerous. We don’t want to have them in the school or in their houses so, they’re a nuisance."
Alicea said the bugs were carried in from outside. In one case, they were discovered in a student’s backpack. Alicea said the school the district has also met with the city of Syracuse’s department of code enforcement.
“We’re going to be working together to work with our community to make sure that the message gets out there of the rights of the tenants in the city and how we can collaborate to make sure they get the support that they need to live in a clean apartment,” Alicea said.
The district has made robo calls and sent a letter out to families. As a precaution, the bugs can be killed by putting clothes in a dryer on high heat.
