In an effort to keep sites clean and safe, the Hollister School District has undergone efforts to prevent critters from continuing to burrow under classrooms.
The district has experienced burrowing critters on certain campuses and is prioritizing a humane approach to address them. The animals—such as skunks, possums and feral cats—lead to the presence of fleas, feces, odors and other potential health hazards.
The critters have been burrowing under classrooms at Rancho San Justo Middle School, Maze Middle School and Sunnyslope Elementary School—living under the structures and creating those potential health hazards for staff and students.
In response, the district hired Animal Damage Management (ADM) to help relocate the animals and install components to prevent their reentry under the buildings.
“It’s more of a long-term solution to keep these particular critters from burrowing under the classrooms,” said Aaron Buzzetta, Director of Facilities for the District.
ADM trapped and relocated animals at Maze and Rancho, then installed retaining walls and subsurface wire mesh to prevent the animals from burrowing back under the buildings. Those components include one-way doors for any animals potentially left under the buildings to exit but not reenter.
At Sunnyslope, the consultant is handling the relocation now, with work scheduled to install the reentry prevention mechanisms in February when the school is on break.
“Our biggest concern is the safety of our students and staff,” Buzzetta said.
Both the District and ADM noted that people feeding the animals and providing makeshift shelters—even though they have good intentions—can exacerbate the critters’ presence and associated health hazards.
Brian Hayden, Area Manager for ADM, handles the company’s ground crew efforts in San Benito, Santa Cruz, Monterey and parts of Santa Clara counties. He said the company has done similar work for 65 school districts in varying counties while mentioning recent preventative measures in Morgan Hill, Gilroy and several districts in San Jose.
Hayden said it is very common for school districts to undergo this type of relocation and reentry prevention, estimating ADM has set traps to relocate flea-bearing animals hundreds if not thousands of times at school sites.
He said the Hollister School District is taking the appropriate steps to address the matter. Hayden noted how these measures fall under the state’s Integrated Pest Management approach to pest prevention while minimizing human health and environmental hazards.
“It’s fleas that are on cats, skunks, raccoons, possums,” Hayden noted. “They can carry pathogens. Nobody wants to get bitten by fleas at schools. It creates a question of cleanliness. It’s a school. It’s not a place for these animals.”
