Ukiah school officials outline cockroach eradication measures

Ukiah Unified School District officials, responding to criticisms of their handling of a cockroach infestation at Ukiah High School, on Thursday detailed their three-year effort to eradicate the pests.

It includes biweekly treatments with a rotating array of pesticides aimed at reducing the bugs’ ability to build up resistance to chemicals, and creating physical barriers to keep them outside of buildings. Screens on drains have been effective at keeping the roaches - an outdoor variety called Turkestan - out of the kitchen, officials said. The school is expanding use of screens, adding door sweeps, plugging electrical conduits and deploying sticky strips, officials said.

They said tenting and fumigating the buildings, a measure some parents have called for, is not recommended by pest and health experts.

School officials also have placed limits on the amount of food allowed in classrooms, ordered off-ground garbage containers and launched an educational campaign focused on keeping the campus clean.

Schools superintendent Debra Kubin said the problem has improved, but conceded “we still have work to do.”