School committee lets facilities staff keep baiting option after Beverly High rodent trial

The Beverly Public Schools Finance & Facilities Committee on Sept. 24 voted to let facilities staff reuse bait stations and deploy enclosed collection buckets at school locations if they determine rodent activity has increased.

The committee’s action follows a district-run pilot at Beverly High School that facilities staff said ran from late June through the third week of August and used “about 30 rodent traps, bait boxes throughout the school.” John Coffey, director of buildings and grounds, told the panel he compared one-week samples from June and September and found nine rodent sightings in June and two in September, a reduction he said suggested the trial had some effect.

Committee members pressed staff on safety and placement. Coffey said roughly 15 of the 30 stations had been placed in areas under lock and key—electrical/IDF closets and other rooms accessible only to custodial and administrative staff—and that bait stations in the culinary room had been located after pulling out stoves and “we did all blocking on all the gas lines, to help prevent any kind of, rodent activity.”

Coffey said the stations were collected at the end of the trial and stored; keeping the hardware reduces future costs if the district redeploys the program. He also described the active rodenticide used as a “second generation rodenticide” and explained that if such products were banned, the district could revert to first-generation products that generally require multiple feedings to be effective.

Some committee members said they preferred containment options that prevent animals from escaping or carcasses from ending up in shared spaces. The committee discussed the use of “flip buckets” (enclosed collection buckets) and other collection devices that make monitoring and disposal easier. Coffey said snap traps and other trapping are already in use in utility and electrical rooms and that staff could pilot flip buckets in targeted locations.

After discussion, the committee voted to allow Coffey “to keep open as an option the redeployment of the baits that he currently has stored… if he sees an uptick in rodents and to use the collection buckets in his arsenal in a place that would not be accessible to children.” The committee recorded the motion, a second and a voice vote in favor; the chair announced the motion passed unanimously. The vote did not include a roll-call list in the public record.

The committee discussion noted operational limits: Coffey said the trial was deliberately run when students were out of the building, that weather and food availability affect rodent activity, and that the district’s Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plan is registered with the state and governs what products and methods the schools may use. Coffey and members flagged that a federal/state policy debate over rodenticides is active—“there was a hearing this summer, on Capitol Hill relative to banning rodenticides”—and that any regulatory change could affect the district’s available options.

The motion gives facilities staff the discretion to redeploy baiting hardware and to use enclosed collection buckets in locked or otherwise child-inaccessible locations. Committee members asked for notice when the method is used, and Coffey said he would brief the committee if he activates the option districtwide or at other schools.

Ongoing monitoring and next steps include continued monthly reports from the contracted pest-control vendor and comparing rodent-tracker reports between months and buildings. Coffey recommended keeping the baiting option in the “tool belt” of responses and using it selectively for outbreaks rather than as routine year-round baiting.