WAUKESHA — The School District of Waukesha on Tuesday said bed bugs were found in two classrooms at Lowell Elementary School.
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“We do have two classrooms at Lowell where some bed bugs were found,” the superintendent said in an email. “Students will be relocated today while the issue is addressed.”
In an email to families sent Monday night, Principal Marlene Figueroa asked parents to inspect clothing, backpacks, and other belongings for bed bugs.
The email said bites can cause itching and swelling, but are not known to spread disease.
"It is important to understand that having bed bugs does not mean the home, school, or public place is unclean or poorly kept,' the email read.
Jasmine Fields, a parent of a third grader at Lowell, said she felt parents were left with too many unanswered questions.
“Some of the parents feel like we should’ve gotten a side email saying which classroom it was,” Fields said. “All of us are wondering: is it in our child’s classroom?"
Fields said she plans to keep her child home for now.
"We don’t want to bring that home. I understand that’s life, but allowing children to come into an education setting and get exposed to that and then going home, puts others at risk," Fields said.
Kristen Haessly, Lowell’s Parent Teacher Organization president and a parent at the school, said she appreciated the district’s communication.
“The school is doing everything they need to do,” Haessly said. “They were being very proactive to let the school know to be aware.”
A follow-up email to parents dated Oct. 13 outlined the district’s response process, which can include visual inspections, targeted vacuuming, and examination of selected items by a trained bed bug detection dog.
The district said chemical treatments would be considered only if inspection findings warranted them.
“What all of us want is to know our child is in a safe and bug-free environment,” Fields said.
The district said it would continue updating families as more information becomes available.
For more information, you can visit the Wisconsin Department of Health Services “Bed Bugs in Wisconsin Information Sheet”, or call the Waukesha County Health Department at 262-896-8430.
This story was reported on-air by Kaylee Staral and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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