Taft City School District officials were made aware of a number of isolated incidents of bed bugs found at schools and sent parents and staff a notice with an action plan.

The letter states that although there is no bed bug infestation at any of the TCSD schools, all bed bug incidents "have been addressed in a timely manner,” adding that the district’s Pest Management Company applied pesticide to the classrooms where bed bugs were found.

Bed bugs enter schools and other locations through people’s belongings like backpacks, from an infested site,which is usually where people sleep. 

Although bed bugs can be annoying, they don’t spread disease and pose no public health threat.

TCSD developed a bed bug action plan to prevent and eliminate them.

They recommend that:

• Staff is retrained once a year about how to identify bed bugs and what to do about it if found on school property 
• Provide plastic bins for students to store their belongings while they’re at school
• The accumulation of clothing and backpacks in classrooms is avoided and to keep classrooms as uncluttered as possible
• Staff and faculty work with the pest management company to reduce the risk of pests