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Parents of students at Browning-Pearce Elementary School in San Mateo, Putnam County, Florida, are expressing concern after bats were seen flying from a covered overhang at the school’s entrance. The sighting has understandably stirred anxiety among the school community.
The Putnam County School District has assured the public that no bats have entered classrooms or hallways, and importantly, there have been no reports of any direct contact between the bats and students or staff members.
The issue was first noticed in November during an evening fall festival when staff members observed the bats emerging. In response, maintenance teams promptly initiated mitigation measures, carefully sealing potential entry points once the bats had vacated the premises for the night.
Dr. Rick Surrency, Superintendent of the Putnam County School District, explained the challenges faced in dealing with the situation. “Bats are a protected species here in Florida, so you can’t go out there and destroy them,” he stated, highlighting the need for a cautious approach.
While most of the bats were successfully excluded from their initial location, they have since moved to another part of the school’s structure, indicating the ongoing nature of the issue and the need for continued management efforts.
“They come out easily at night, you go back and you seal up where they are and then they find another place, so as it turned out, they found another place in the school,” Surrency explained.
The district says they then hired Belfor Property Management, a professional mitigation company.
“We’ve paid them a considerable amount of money because we want it done right, and they’ve actually come out and set up scaffolds,” Surrency said.
Recent cold weather has slowed progress, though, with the bats going dormant.
“They want to do like us and stay inside,” the superintendent said. “That’s probably why we haven’t been able to really resolve the problem during the cold weather, because they won’t come out.”
Surrency stressed that there is no safety risk to students.
“They were not flying inside at all, and as far as I’m concerned, they were not flying in the hallway,” he said.
The district has not notified the Florida Department of Health because they say there have been no reports of bats inside the school building or any direct contact with students or staff.
School remains open while crews continue exclusion efforts.
“Our number one goal in our district is to keep our kids safe, whether it’s a threat by humans or a threat by any other living being, being bats or anything else,” Surrency said. “I want to reassure our parents that our students are safe. They’ve never been in any harm at all.”
District officials say they are closely monitoring the situation and expect warmer weather to help resolve it soon.
Remember, killing bats is illegal in Florida under state law, including those roosting in buildings, schools or businesses. Pesticides and poisons are strictly off-limits.
If bats invade your property, you must follow Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) rules for safe exclusion: let them exit at night, then seal entry points. Full guidelines and tips can be found here.