Bedbugs Are Biting In Some District 30 Schools
The first report of bedbugs in the district was on Oct. 5, 2006. Since then, an integrated pest management program recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Administration has been followed in classrooms where bedbugs have been found.
BY RICHARD GENTILVISO

Efforts to combat bedbugs in seven District 30 schools have been under way over the last few months. "We've been having a big incidence of bedbugs," Esaid Jeannie Tsvaris-Basini, president of Community Education Council District 30 at the January council meeting, held at P.S. 222 in Jackson Heights.

Reporting on a meeting she had on January 5 with the pest management contractor handling the matter for the Department of Education, Tsvaris- Basini said there are still problems with bedbugs in the seven affected schools, P.S. 212 and P.S. 69 in Jackson Heights, P.S. 112, P.S. 111 and P.S. 166 in Long Island City, P.S. 152 in Woodside and P.S. 234 in Astoria. "Problems keep cropping up," said Tsvaris-Basini. She said the contractor indicated the bedbugs may be growing immune to the chemical currently used to control them.

The first report of bedbugs in the district was on Oct. 5, 2006. Since then, an integrated pest management program recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Administration has been followed in classrooms where bedbugs have been found.

District 30 Superintendent Dr. Philip Composto said several classrooms have been affected at P.S. 234. "[Bedbugs] are not like roaches. They affix themselves to people," he said. But Composto said pest management efforts could only be conducted one classroom at a time.

Any bug found is put in a bag and sent to the Department of Health (DOH) for confirmation of its species. "They determine if it is a bedbug," said Composto. If there is a positive identification, letters are sent home informing parents. "Everything in the affected classroom has to be bagged, coats, bags, etc.," he said.

According to DOH, bedbugs are small insects that feed on human blood. Although a nuisance, bedbugs are not known to spread disease.

Adult bedbugs have flat, rusty-red colored oval bodies that are about the size of an apple seed. They often hide in cracks in furniture, floors or walls.

Bedbugs are usually active at night when people are sleeping. The bites are mostly painless but they can turn into large, itchy welts.

Bedbugs are probably carried into classrooms in infested school bags or clothing and then can travel between classrooms in small crevices and through cracks in walls and floors.

Last September, the city council held hearings on the issue of bedbugs after the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) reported almost five times as many complaints about bedbugs were received last year than the year before.

Although the cause of the bedbug resurgence is not certain, experts believe increased international travel, a ban on more toxic pesticides and growth of the used furniture and mattress business are involved.

Currently, the city does not directly regulate the sale of used mattresses, although it does license dealers of secondhand goods. A 1996 state law requires manufacturers of used bedding to certify that they have sanitized the bedding. However, the state has never decided what standards should be used to assure that bedding has been sanitized.

"We have a [bedbug] epidemic. It's all over the city, but we are dealing with it," said Composto.