Thornwood High School students say bedbug infestation persists, some parents pull kids out of school

SOUTH HOLLAND, Ill. (WLS) -- Thornwood High School students say action to eradicate a bedbug infestation failed and students are still seeing the insects in their school.

Cell phone video shows the uproar brewing in the halls as students marched Wednesday morning, demanding answers.

"We just started chanting free us, we don't deserve to be in this school," said junior Carl Boyd.

Two weeks after administrators at the South Holland school said they had taken action to eliminate the infestation in parts of the sprawling campus, students are still seeing bedbugs inside the facility.

READ MORE: Thornwood High School infested with bedbugs, principal says

"If they see the kids are protesting like this has never happened before, then they should do something," Boyd said.

A student-led petition that's already garnered over 1,000 signatures is also circulating online, calling out District 205 leadership.

The petition reads in part, "We are calling upon the school administration and local authorities to take immediate action by closing down the school until there is concrete evidence of complete eradication of these pests."

Some Thornwood parents even went so far as to pull their kids from school indefinitely, until, they say, more is done to effectively eradicate the bedbugs.

RELATED: Thornwood High School deals with bedbug infestation; some parents keep kids home: 'I was shocked'

"I'm getting daily pictures of students that are at the school, taking pictures of bedbugs and such," said parent Holly Gray.

Other parents are concerned that it could lead to an outbreak of bedbugs through the whole community.

District 205 Superintendent Dr. Nathaniel Cunningham spoke to media Wednesday afternoon and claimed there is presently no infestation and that appropriate actions have been taken.

"We have taken extensive measures to tackle this situation ahead on. We have sought the assistance of our pests maintenance professionals to bring additional focus to this problem," he said.

District 205 leaders said bedbugs were previously brought in by a few students, and added another remediation is happening this weekend.