Bats in N.B. school causes early end to the day for students

Bats were found in a New Brunswick school on Monday.

Students were dismissed early from a New Brunswick school on Monday after 13 bats were found flying around the building.

Crystal O’Neil, a parent of two students at Tobique Valley Middle High School in Plaster Rock, says she received a text from her daughter informing her of the situation. O’Neil went to pick her children up from the Grades 6 to 12 school before the early dismissal was given.

“Nobody is learning math and English when there are bats flying around,” says O’Neil.

Anglophone School District West confirms 13 brown bats were accounted for and removed from the building on Monday.

The school district says bats have been a “historical issue” in the building, leading to numerous interventions and a “large remediation effort” last year.

O’Neil says she’s hopeful the school’s bat problem will be dealt with once and for all, following this latest incident.

“I think 13 is a ridiculous number,” she says. “It tells me that if 13 bats are flying through the school today, how many are in the attic? Is it 3,000? Is it 300? That’s concerning, and those bats are reproducing and breeding on a daily basis.”

The school district says it will inspect the school early Tuesday morning to determine if another closure is needed.

“We are also examining contingency plans in case classes need to be cancelled for an extended period of time,” says school district spokesperson Paul MacIntosh in a statement.

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