Bats keep turning up inside Edgerton Elementary School in Puyallup, and nearly three weeks after the first sighting, the district still doesn't know how the animals are getting in. The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department has recommended rabies post-exposure treatment for a staff member and a student after contact with the animals, even as maintenance crews scramble to find and seal whatever gap is letting bats inside the building.
A Pattern of Sightings Since Mid-September
The timeline, as reported by FOX 13 Seattle, began on September 14, when teachers discovered two live bats in the downstairs hallway near the cafeteria and gym. More followed: a night-shift custodian found two more live bats in the kindergarten hallway on September 23, a live bat turned up underneath the mechanical room door on September 28, and a dead bat was found in an upstairs mechanical room the following day. Local coverage differs on the running total — FOX 13 Seattle reported that seven bats had been discovered over a two-week span, while MyNorthwest put the figure at eight since mid-September.
Despite the repeated encounters, the Puyallup School District has not pinned down a specific entry point, and inspections have turned up no evidence that bats are actually roosting inside the building, per the same account from MyNorthwest. Maintenance crews are now conducting daily interior and exterior inspections alongside immediate repairs, including door sweeps and checks of windows and screens. The district has also installed game cameras to monitor for further bat activity, the report notes.
Pest Control Moving In This Weekend
Pest-control professionals were expected at Edgerton this weekend, according to district officials, with plans to look for and seal potential entry points outside near the mechanical room before moving indoors. School staff are continuing to monitor for additional bats in the meantime, and the district says it will post regular updates on the situation.
Not every parent is reassured by the response. Sara Sutherland said she's worried her son could pick up a bat without realizing the danger, while Ashley Williams said she was disappointed that parents weren't informed in advance that bats had been found at the school.
Treatment Recommended for Staff Member, Student
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department recommended post-exposure prophylaxis for a staff member who had contact with a bat on September 14, the same day the first pair of bats was discovered. A student was also advised to get treatment as a precaution, though that followed only an unconfirmed report of possible contact, not a confirmed exposure.
None of the bats found at Edgerton have been tested for rabies, the health department's account indicates. That's notable given the broader local picture: 23 bats have been tested for rabies in Pierce County this year, and none have tested positive, with the last confirmed positive case in the county dating back to 2017. The health department did not recommend closing the school.
District officials advise anyone who encounters a bat to avoid touching it, leave the area immediately and report the sighting to school personnel. Public health officials more broadly recommend washing any bat bite or scratch right away and contacting a health care provider afterward.
A Rare but Serious Risk Statewide
Washington has recorded just two identified human rabies cases in the last 75 years, and both were fatal — a grim statistic that underscores why health officials treat any possible bat exposure cautiously, even when the odds of infection are low. The Asotin County Health District reported a significant increase in rabid bat reports statewide and nationally this year, and in a separate incident in eastern Washington in September, multiple children in the Asotin-Anatone School District received post-exposure treatment after a bat found near their school tested positive for rabies — the first confirmed rabies-positive bat in that county since 2010.
Unlike that case, the bats found at Edgerton have not been tested, so their rabies status remains unknown. For now, the Puyallup School District says it is focused on sealing the building and keeping students and staff away from any bat they encounter, while pest-control crews work through the weekend to try to shut the door on whatever has been getting in.
