School: Where the wild things aren’t

Milton High School allows animals in the building sometimes and handles the uninvited ones.

“We have one board policy on (animals), and that is when it is considered a service animal,” said Co-Principal Mr. Andrew Rantz.

According to Mr. Rantz, service animals are adapted to a person’s specific disability and are allowed because they have a purpose. He added there are currently no service animals in the high school.

He added that other animals, like pets, can be allowed if they serve a purpose and have been deemed safe. An example would be students bringing in pets for a science class, said Mr. Rantz.

Parents, teachers and administration have to be aware of the pets entering the school, said Mr. Rantz. Part of ensuring safety is making sure other students don’t have allergies.

Administration determines if animals are safe and sets the rules in allowing them, Mr. Rantz added.

Animal Science is its “own entity” since it is part of the agriculture curriculum, said Mr. Rantz, adding that the animals for the class have been purchased by the school, adopted or purchased through grants.

According to Agricultural Science Teacher Mr. David Bittner, the Animal Science class has been available at Milton for the past five years. It includes an animal lab with fish, eels, an axolotl, rabbits, geckos and guinea pigs.

He said that grants have been awarded to Milton from the Tractor Supply Company and the Bayer Fund adding that they have been used for equipment and supplies for the rabbits, geckos and guinea pigs.

“We established the animal lab to give students hands-on experience with caring for animals,” said Mr. Bittner.

“To prepare for the weekends, students deep clean and double-feed on Fridays. Then, I come in late-Saturday or early-Sunday just to check on the animals,” he said.

During “extended breaks” and summer vacation, students adopt the animals, take them home and care for them, said Mr. Bittner.

Some uninvited animals have been found in the high school. Milton has had issues with mice in some parts of the school, according to Mr. Rantz.

He added that in the past, food hasn’t been stored properly, which resulted in mice.

“We work with rodent control,” said Mr. Rantz. Animal pest control comes in to set traps and suggests better ways to store food, he added.

According to Mr. Rantz, the district gets checked monthly by Valley Pest Control. The district also calls them to handle any ongoing problems.

He added that as far as he knows, the high school has not had any problems with insects while he has been working here.