DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A concerned parent sent us a picture of rodents inside her child's school.
Her student attends McNair High School in DeKalb County.
District leaders confirmed they have caught three mice inside the building within the last month.
They found one in the corner of the band room and another in a hallway in the main building.
The parent who contacted Channel 2 Action News said her child saw the rodents in the gym.
Officials denied finding rodents in the gym.
The photo shows two rodents on a sticky trap. The parent referred to them as rats, officials say the photo depicts two field mice.
"A field mice is something that is about as big as your thumb; a rat can be almost as big as my arm," said McNair High School Plant Engineer Vinson Bailey.
Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Erica Byfield walked the building with Bailey.
She showed us improvements staff made to all exterior doors.
"Those are the door sweeps, that keeps the mice from coming up under the door," he said as he pointed to a metal strip along the door that leads to the fine arts building.
Bailey stressed the building is clean and safe.
"That's my reason for being here to make sure they get a clean safe environment... and I take pride in that," he said.
Officials believe the woods surrounding the school and nearby swamp land have contributed to the problem.
A woman who lives nearby thinks they might he right. She told Byfield she has seen large rats running in the middle of the street.
"When was the last time you saw one," Byfield asked. "Probably two weeks ago," Marian Swann responded.
Bailey said a representative from the county's health department visited the school within the last month following the first report of a mouse sighting.
He told Byfield she gave the staff a few suggestions and on a follow up visit she gave them a glowing review.
"We don’t have a mice problem, we don’t have one," Bailey said.
WSBTV
