by: Emily Jimenez & Andrea Rocha

Rats have been spotted on campus and their attendance just might be better than yours.

 An ongoing rat infestation in the basement of the A building has forced the temporary closure of the College and Career Center and disrupted counseling, school administration confirmed on Aug. 18. 

Basement staff first started noticing signs of rats last school year, but the problem was officially confirmed this fall and has only continued to spread. Some teachers outside of the basement have also reported rats showing up in their classrooms. 

“I would come in every Sunday evening and find them. I don’t know what’s happening because no work orders are being processed when I put them in,” said Liane Shih, one of the art teachers whose classroom is in the infested basement.

Eventually, Shih bought an ultrasonic pest repeller device on her own that emits high frequency sound waves designed to irritate and drive the rodents away. 

“It has different noise levels and I put it on the highest one. Only my 7th grade class could hear it, which was weird, so I put it down a level and it was fine. Since I turned it on, the droppings disappeared.” says. 

Assistant principal Audrey Green says the issue has been ongoing for a while.  Exterminators now come in every two days to treat the problems but the building’s age makes it hard to completely get rid of the rats. 

“It’s an old school with a lot of pipes that need to be sealed so rats can’t crawl through them,” Green said. 

School counselor Miguel Rodriguez whose office is in the basement said the situation makes him feel disgusted, but he’s not embarrassed by it.

“I think the school is doing the best they can to handle it,” he said. “I see some movement.” 

A sign on the College and Career Center door located next to counseling offices currently reads “Please keep closed. NO access at the time” with the date of the first day of school posted on it.