The Oakland Unified School District is temporarily closing two neighboring elementary schools as exterminators deal with a flea infestation.
District officials said the Esperanza and Korematsu Discovery Academy schools will close Thursday and Friday while exterminators perform "a really good deep cleaning," Oakland Unified Spokesperson John Sasaki told KCBS Radio on Wednesday.
The two are "co-located" next to each other in East Oakland – with a park on one side and a wooded area on the other. Officials said they have had issues with raccoons in the past, which may be the source of the fleas.
It's thought students and staff unknowingly brought the fleas into classrooms.
"Fleas are a hearty pest that are not easy to get rid of, especially because they quickly lay eggs and the eggs don’t really succumb to the kind of treatments that are done to get rid of the fleas themselves," Sasaki said.
Exterminators have been working on the problem since mid-September, but finally opted to close the schools so a full cleaning could be done. All carpets and rugs in the impacted classrooms are being removed, as the fleas "kind of set up shop there" and lay eggs, Sasaki added.
"We have students and staff that have sustained quite a few bites," he said.
In the meantime, teachers are being encouraged to work with their classes virtually and students will have work assigned.
"We never want to close down a school, especially after the last year and a half we all experienced with COVID-19, but this is necessary to keep the school facilities safe for the Esperanza and Korematsu communities," said Oakland Unified Chief Systems and Services Officer Preston Thomas said in a statement on Wednesday.
Classes are expected to resume next Monday.
Exterminators cautioned that the flea issue might not be completely resolved by then but there should be a noticeable improvement.
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