Ongoing flea infestation at elementary school has parents taking extra precautions

Well, now to the latest on an infestation in a South Jersey school. It's been more than a month now, and students and parents are getting frustrated. Kids are coming home with bites, even bringing fleas into their homes. Action News reporter John Paul is in Elk Township tonight with an update on the situation. Yeah, the flea problems continue here in Elk Township. I'm told some of the areas of the school are sealed off. A couple of weeks ago, we were here because the school closed so they could do treatment. But those fleas came back. Unfortunately, I thought they had it under control, and it's just not the case. An out-of-control flea infestation inside of Aura Elementary in South Jersey means pickup looks a little different. We saw parents shaking out shoes and clothing this afternoon to prevent bringing the fleas home. Other parents are second-guessing even dropping the kids off in the first place. It's really hard to drop her off. Do you take your kid knowing that there's a problem to school or have them miss days? It's just a double-edged sword. It's hard to decide what's the right thing. Elaine Seagrave talked to us about the ongoing problem. She says fleas are biting kids and even hitching rides home, leaving her fourth grader scared. She's worried that she's going to come home with bites. She hears about some friends and other children in school having the bites or having the fleas on them. The Delphi Regional School District has been fighting the infestation for more than a month. On September 17th, they closed the pre-K through 6th school in Elk Township to treat for the bugs, but it didn't work. Students were moved off-site and eventually attended school virtually for about two weeks, while more treatments were done. The school welcomed the kids back on October 5th, but so did the fleas. Parents sent me these pictures of students covered in bites, and some even brought those live fleas home with them. Several parents told me they pulled their kids from school until this is resolved. So for now, drop-off and pick-up are a lot different for the kids here at Aura. I check the bags, I check the lunch bag, I check the bag with the Chromebook, I check for any bites, just in case. Now the school district has not answered any of my phone calls, nor have they answered any of my emails. They did put out an email to parents saying that they are still working to treat the situation. They have a new pest control company, but these fleas seem to keep coming back. In Elk Township, John Paul, Channel 6 Action News.