Montgomery Elementary’s spider problem should be cleared by first day

(Mercersburg) — Despite gaining national attention, Montgomery Elementary’s spider infestation is no “Arachnophobia,” and the school district superintendent is confident hard-hitting treatment will allow students to come back to a critter-free school in a couple weeks.

Three days after a pest control company swarmed the Tuscarora School District elementary school to eradicate an ongoing inhabitance of brown recluse spiders, Superintendent Charles Prijatelj said Monday officials will continue to monitor the building and order treatments until they are more than certain the problem is beat.

“We’re doing everything the exterminator says we should do, and then some,” he said.

The story of Montgomery Elementary’s spider problem went nationwide since the district revealed it Friday. Asked if he was surprised about this, Prijatelj said, “It’s August, there’s nothing going on.”

But it had been an issue in the making since about a year and a half ago, when the spiders were first found in the boiler room and kitchen. Each time Ehrlich Pest Control, the company Tuscarora has a contract with, treated the issue, the spiders would return a few months later and treatment would be administered again.

Then the spiders — which don’t purposefully seek out to bite humans but can cause serious injuries if they do — turned up in the library, and Prijatelj decided it was time for an end game.

Ehrlich will administer treatments — each $400 — again on Aug. 14 then over each three-day weekend once school starts. The first will be over the Labor Day holiday.

These weekend treatments are the best way to go, Prijatelj said, because the spiders are highly sensitive to commotion and will stay hidden until their surroundings have been quiet for some time.

“The thing is, these spiders don’t like disruptions, they don’t like noise, they don’t like people. They like to hide, and they can hide without eating or feeding for seasons,” Prijatelj said. “They’ve seen brown recluse spiders go 11 seasons, so probably two to three years (without eating).

“I don’t know how that little bug does it.”

The district has ordered 2,000 glue-board traps that will be distributed throughout the school to catch any lingering spiders that somehow made it through the latest treatment, Prijatelj said. In addition, school employees will receive training on storage guidelines to prevent inadvertently creating ideal living arrangements for the eight-legged creatures. One point Prijatelj has already begun to incorporate is replacing cardboard boxes, which can become what the spiders consider perfect dark and musty accommodations, with clear totes that let in light and remain dry.

He reiterated how important it was to communicate the issue to the community and “(deal) with it appropriately.” He added that concerns are justifiable but he is confident that the huge focus on treatment will get rid of all spiders and keep them away.

“I quite frankly am not as calm about it as they are,” he said, referring to school employees. “But the situation is not grave. It’s not like ‘Arachnophobia,’ where you’ve got thousands of spiders coming down from the ceiling.”

The first day of school in TSD is Aug. 24. Prijatelj added that student orientations planned the week prior should still happen.

Amber South can be reached at 717-262-4771.

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This article comes to us through a partnership between Public Opinion Online and WITF.