New York Schools are ideal locations for pest infestations. Many are in large, older buildings with characteristic nooks and crannies where pests can squeeze in. They’re mostly quiet in the evening when pests are most active and there is always food available.
Keeping pests of all kinds out of your school or college can be a challenge. A 2018 study found unhealthy pests in almost half of all New York school cafeterias. Once they get in, they’re reluctant to leave and many reproduce quickly. To combat tough New York pests, you need an experienced team of pest control experts to tackle your problem. Assured Environments understands how important it is to maintain a healthy, undisrupted learning environment at your educational facility.
Keeping Students Safe from Pests
The past few years have taught us how quickly viruses can spread when large groups of people congregate. This same theory applies to pest management. Many pests like bed bugs thrive on hosts that help them spread across new locations.
Now that students are back in school, let’s keep them safe from the health risks that come with insects and rodents in your school.
Pests create an array of public health issues. From bites, to nests, to food contamination. To keep your students safe from any of these concerns, Assured can provide a comprehensive integrated pest management plan that is personalized to your unique needs.
The Most Common Pests in New York Schools
The EPA created a list of pests of concern in schools. Of these, the most common in New York are:
- Ants. While not a direct health hazard, certain varieties of ants can bite and others, like carpenter ants, can cause structural damage to your facility. Because ant colonies often splinter and live outside the buildings they infest, it takes a trained specialist to locate the source of the problem.
- Stinging insects. Bees, wasps and hornets pose a danger at schools where young children might be attacked and stung. We can act quickly to prevent some stinging insects from swarming in your school.
- Mice and rats are a never-ending problem in New York. They’re also a health risk in your school cafeteria. Mice are difficult to remove once they’ve established a nest, and they procreate quickly. An integrated pest control plan can keep mice out and stop them from overrunning your school.
- Cockroaches prefer dark, damp areas like cellars and boiler rooms. They can run rampant and get into food and garbage where they’ll feast on nearly anything. Cockroaches are a health risk and significant distraction that we can help eliminate.
- Termites. Often hard to detect until they’ve done significant damage, termites are a unique threat. They burrow into wet or rotted wood in older buildings and can eat away walls and floors from the inside out.
- Birds. Bird nests and aggressive birds like geese can disrupt school activity and cause unpleasant property damage. Assured offers tactical bird control services to reduce the avion activity at your school.
Bed Bugs in Schools
Bed bugs are especially problematic in educational facilities. Bed bugs are, by nature, hitchhikers that spread from host to host via clothes, backpacks and gym bags. A student unwittingly carrying bed bugs into school could quickly pass them on to other students as well as create a potential infestation in the school.
Bed bugs prefer warm, quiet areas to hide and reproduce. To search an entire school on foot is a daunting task. At Assured Environments, our K9 bed bug detection team can go through rooms quickly and efficiently to pinpoint the location of any bed bug hubs.
The New York State Center for School Health has created a bed bug resource page to help ensure your students aren’t bringing home bed bugs from school.
Specialized Pest Control School Services
Pest control isn’t about simply eliminating existing cockroaches in school or trapping the mice that got in. Pest control includes prevention and creating a sanitary environment where pests are unable to thrive.
To accomplish this, Assured Environments offers a variety of custom services to reduce the pest activity in your school.
- Trash chute cleaning keeps pests like flies, moths and centipedes from flourishing in these pest breeding grounds.
- Drain cleaning prevents flies and other larvae from flourishing and spreading harmful bacteria.
- Bird control stops birds from using your building as their personal nesting ground and toilet.
Pest Control for NYC and New Jersey Schools and Colleges
If you’re looking for a complete pest control program including assessment, implementation and monitoring, contact the experienced pros at Assured Environments. We can create an effective, non-invasive plan to eliminate existing pests and prevent future pest from infesting your school.