School district shutters school; students being served at College of Coastal Georgia
A colony of bats has relocated elementary school students this week in Camden County.
St. Marys Elementary School – which boasts 600-plus students in kindergarten through fifth grade – has been temporarily shuttered while school officials and a wildlife expert wrestle with a bat invasion in the 16-year-old building. On Thursday, students who attend the school were bussed to the College of Coastal Georgia’s Camden Campus in Kingsland.
“Everyone has been phenomenal,” Superintendent Tracolya Green said. “We’ve had an outpouring of support. Everybody has been willing to help us and jump in.”
The first report of a potential problem was reported to Camden County Schools on Wednesday, Jan. 7. Green said staff saw a couple of bats that day, Thursday and Friday, so an expert trapper was contacted to catch those bats.
But the temperatures dropped over the weekend, and when staff arrived at school Monday, more bats were seen flying through the school. At that point, Green said, the decision was made to close the school.
The trapper – a Georgia Department of Natural Resources nuisance wildlife control operator – returned Monday. The first day total of bats trapped? More than 200, Green said.
“When we came in Monday and saw them, that’s when we immediately got everybody out of the building,” Green said. “We had to figure out what was going on. It was clear at that point it wasn’t one or two that had come in. There’s something going on.
“There may be a history that predates me of bats at the school. I can’t confirm or deny that. The first report to the superintendent’s office about bats was Wednesday.”
School was canceled Monday and Tuesday, and Green said a plan began to form Tuesday to complete the school week at the College of Coastal Georgia.
She credited the University System of Georgia and the local college for quickly responding to assist the school system.
Green said buses that normally take students to and from St. Marys Elementary School are now traversing the roads to the college. Parents can also drop off students at the school, and they’ll be transported to the college.
The makeshift elementary school is fully staffed. Students are receiving breakfast and lunch. Physical education and other resource classes are being conducted. Recess has not been canceled. Green said the new school even includes transferred phone lines, district staff monitoring hallways to ensure elementary-aged students don’t mix with college kids, and the district’s insurance has been transferred to the new location for the time being.
As for the building on Osborne Street, Green said the work to bring students back has begun. All of the school’s gutters have been removed and replaced to ensure the school is fully sealed. She said a cleaning service arrived on campus Wednesday to begin a deep clean. While students are projected to remain at the college through the end of the week, there is a possibility students could return to St. Marys Elementary School after the three-day weekend.
“A lot of things have to work out,” Green said. “But we’re not bringing them back until all the bats are removed and the school is fully cleaned, top to bottom.”
Green said the school district will provide updates on social media Friday and Monday.