Orange Co. school buses infested with roaches, parents say

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Eyewitness News learned the Orange County school district spent the weekend fumigating its buses after school officials told WFTV the buses have a cockroach problem.

Channel 9’s Angela Jacobs spoke to a parent who said the school district issued a replacement bus after a mother complained, but that bus was also infested.

The buses weren’t fumigated until weeks after parents demanded their kids not have to ride to school with roaches.

“I believe it was sometime in December when we saw one little bug and we were like, ‘OK, it’s just one little bug,’” one Orange County student said.

But that all changed by February when students started recording video of the roaches on their bus to Windermere Elementary School.

One mother who didn’t want to be identified thought her fifth-grader was just being dramatic until she saw the bugs for herself.

“I’m a certified sanitarian. I’m beyond appalled because I understand the health care implications for this,” the woman said.

She and other parents contacted the school and were told the district would provide a replacement bus, but students said there were even more roaches than before on the replacement.

“They need to have a clean and safe environment to go to school in. There’s no excuse for this whatsoever,” the woman said.

School transportation officials said they believe the roaches are jumping from one bus to another, and every bus in a depot was checked and treated over the weekend.

The action follows a letter sent to parents last Wednesday, reminding them to not send their children on the bus with food or drinks.

Even though officials said they fumigated the buses, parents are still uneasy.

“I’m not trusting of anything at this point. My daughter will be a car rider until I receive that information,” the woman said.

WFTV