CHAPMANVILLE, W.Va. — The issue with bats which has closed down Chapmanville Regional High School this week may have become much more complicated.
The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources Police confirmed they were called to the school to investigate a complaint about the removal of the bats from the building. The agency was limited in what information they would reveal, but Tuesday afternoon issued the following statement.
“Natural Resources Police were made aware of a complaint concerning the extraction of bats from Chapmanville high school on 03 October 2025. Natural Resources Police responded to the school and are actively investigating this complaint. Division of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources personnel are assisting officers with this investigation.”
There was no word on who lodged the complaint or what it entailed. Normally anything involving bats can be a tricky situation. West Virginia is home to several endangered species of bats. More recently a lot of the common bats which were once abundant in the state have seen numbers drastically reduced by white nose syndrome. A number of special provisions and regulations pertain to the handling of any bats, particularly those which are protected or endangered.
The Logan County School system had no comment when contacted by MetroNews about the situation.
Under normal circumstances, mishandling of a bat removal job would be the jurisdiction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. However, with the federal government shutdown, it’s unclear if any of the agency’s wildlife officers have been to the school or are involved in the investigation. Calls to the USFWS media contacts were not answered. A recording indicated employees were on furlough.
So far it’s also unclear if any charges were filed in connection with the removal, although again it’s difficult to know because employees of U.S. District Court are also furloughed. There were not charges filed in Logan County Magistrate Court tied to the matter on Tuesday.
Students at Chapmanville High School were sent home last week when bats were discovered in the building. Logan County School officials announced they had contracted with pest control companies to handle the problem and the hope was to have students back in school this week. However, school was also cancelled Monday and Tuesday. As of Tuesday afternoon, no decision had been announced for the rest of the week.