By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
NEWPORT, N.H. — The Newport School Board voted unanimously to allow funds to be shifted from the Richards School staff salary line, with money coming from unfilled positions, to pay for the eviction of the bats in the ceilings.
Superintendent Donna Magoon presented a document to the school board outlining what has been spent to date on the bat issue, and mold, at Richards School. The cost of an inspection by Monadnock Pest and Wildlife came to $125, and it will cost $800 for ongoing inspections occurring twice a month. Live Free Wildlife Solutions cleaned up guano for a cost of $11,250, while RPF Associates charged $11,701 for Cryptococcus testing, Hiptoplasma Capsulatum and mold tests. A mold test by ProLab Inc. also cost $15.
This came to a total of $23,091 for mold and bats, and with the estimated total of $64,804 for bat eviction from Monadnock Pest and Wildlife, the grand total comes to $86,640.
Magoon spoke with Business Administrator Ed Emond about funding for this, and he advised taking money in Richards School salaries to pay for it.
“We should start doing this process in March,” Magoon said. “I’d like to be able to reach out to them and say, yes, we will accept their proposal.”
Magoon said she did reach out to another company about this, but it was too big of a job for them to do. Monadnock Pest and Wildlife was available, and Magoon said it is ideal because they are the same people coming out and doing inspections.
“He is pretty familiar with our building,” Magoon said. “He is the one who did our inspection at the very beginning of all of the bat stuff.”
She also reached out to Primex who said this was not covered by insurance. Magoon said they have been looking into grants for this, because even if the district spends the money on this, there could be a chance at reimbursement.
School Board member Kathryn Boutin asked if a meeting with the town had been scheduled to prepare them for bats being evicted, and Magoon said she needed to wait for the school board’s approval. She has spoken with Town Manager Kyle Harris and NH Fish and Game about the next steps, also.
“I would like for them all to come talk to our community about not only what is going to happen when the bats are evicted from our building, but what to look for and ways they could help,” Magoon said. “As well as go over any questions parents and community members have regarding testing that was done. We did get back all the testing and everything that we have said we have clean air. There is nothing in the air that’s going to cause anybody to be sick. There’s no mold and nothing with the guano. It’s all good.”
Testing results are up on the website. Magoon asked the board for their approval so she can move forward and give Monadnock Pest and Wildlife the “OK.”
In January, Richards School was closed due to hundreds of big brown bats hibernating in the ceiling. The school hired pest control companies to come in and take samples, conduct full comprehensive studies and create a plan to remove the bats in March.
Air samples came back negative for the fungus Cryptococcus, which can make people seriously sick, especially for those with weakened immune systems.
School Board member Melissa Mitchler made a motion to move $65,000 from Richards School staff salaries to the maintenance line to pay for the services. Boutin then suggested to change the motion to not include the specific dollar amount and wait for a budget transfer later, as this is an estimate and could go up or down.
The final motion was to approve moving up to $75,000 from Richards School staff salary line to pay for the eviction of the bats. Another motion was made to approve using Monadnock Pest and Wildlife for the bat removal. Both motions were voted unanimously in favor with a 4-0 vote.
