Christ First Forum

Roaches Plague 22 Orange Co. Schools
10:35 PM, Apr 28, 2011

APOPKA, Fla. -- The Orange County School District is dealing with a big bug problem -- at least 22 of its schools are infested with roaches.

Students at Rock Springs Elementary School in Apopka are not allowed inside the cafeteria after the roaches forced it to abruptly shut down. School officials said the cafeteria will not open until Monday at the earliest.

Rock Springs is not the only infested school, some of which previously passed a health inspection, but a Local 6 investigation prompted the district to take another look.

Local 6 reporter Mike Holfeld met with the school district's chief operating officer, Mike Eugene, Wednesday night to discuss the infestation. He said the district has launched a school-by-school inspection.

So far, 188 schools have been inspected at night to see how widespread the problem is and 22 were found to be infested with roaches at an unacceptable level.

Thursday night on Local 6 News at 11, Holfeld will have exclusive video of the infestation at one local school, as well as more information about which schools have been inspected.

A phone message was sent to parents at Rock Springs Elementary to address the issue on Thursday.

"I'm calling to let you know that OCPS maintenance inspectors were at our school yesterday and found evidence of bugs in our cafeteria and our kitchen. We wanted to take care of the problem right away, so we changed our food service routine today. Maintenance staff is aggressively stepping up their pest-control management, and our custodians and food service staff are thoroughly cleaning and sanitizing all surfaces, floors and equipment. Until we are sure that the bugs are under control, we will continue to serve meals under our temporary set-up and keep students away from the affected areas," the message said.

Orange County Schools said it will have a hotline open from 6 p.m. until midnight Thursday, and then from 6 a.m. until midnight every day until the problem is solved in every school in order to take questions from parents. The number is 407-318-3030.

Infested Schools
Pine Loch Elementary
Memorial Middle (normal as of Thursday)
Union Par Elementary
Glen Ridge Middle
Brookshire Elementary
Lake Silver Elementary
Cypress Park Elementary
Rock Springs Elementary
Wolf Lake Elementary
Wheatley Elementary
Clarcona Elementary
Oak Ridge High
Deerwood Elementary
Pinewood Elementary
Ridgewood Park Elementary
Rosemont Elementary
Lakeview Middle
Lake Whitney Elementary
Palmetto Elementary
Shingle Creek Elementary
Three-Points Elementary
Riverside Elementary

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