CA Education Department workers bug out after parasitic insects found in office
It seems the bugs didn’t learn their lesson the first time, because it appears insects have returned to the California Department of Education’s headquarters in downtown Sacramento.
Education department officials told employees to pack up their things and work remotely for the foreseeable future after insects were found in the agency’s headquarters on N and 15th streets.
“Out of an abundance of caution, and due to additional reports of insects in the building, all staff are directed to work remotely effective immediately and until further notice as we work to have the entire building inspected by (the Department of General Services) and their pest control specialist,” read an email signed by California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond.
Earlier this month, CDE found some bedbugs in the building and directed employees to work from home for the remainder of the week. CDE employees who are eligible to telework are required to report to offices two days a week, according to department policy. These workers are not subject to the upcoming return-to-office order.
“Following a thorough review, no bedbug activity was detected in any of the identified areas within our building,” CDE officials wrote on June 4. “In addition, both the affected areas and surrounding workstations will undergo deep cleaning.”
But it appears that the insects have returned.
This week, CDE employees shared images and one video with The Sacramento Bee that they said were taken inside the building, which appeared to show insects that resembled bedbugs’ characteristic apple-seed shape.
While bedbugs are not known to spread or transmit disease, the Environmental Protection Agency considers the parasitic insects a pest that can cause other public health issues such as allergic reactions, secondary infections and mental health impacts on those living in infested homes. The small insects feed on the blood of mammals.
A CDE spokesperson said that the incident is confined to the building located at 1430 N Street and employees from all floors have been instructed to work from home, unless their job duties require them to be on site.
Union concerned about health, safety issues
Anica Walls, president of SEIU Local 1000, said in a statement that the reports of bedbugs were “deeply concerning.”
“State workers should never be forced to work in unsafe or unsanitary conditions,” Walls said. “Our members’ health and safety are our number one priority, and we expect the State to treat this issue with the urgency it requires.”
The education department building has a history of bedbugs. In 2024, the same building was the site of a possible bedbug infestation that required employees to work from home, according to KCRA.
The order telling employees to work from home comes as other state departments are preparing for employees to return to offices four days a week per Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order he issued last year.
Newsom’s return-to-office order does not apply to the roughly 1,500 employees that work for CDE because the department is overseen by a different elected official: Thurmond.
Last year, Thurmond initially announced his agency would follow the governor’s lead on the return-to-office issue. After listening to employees’ opposition, he decided to maintain the department’s two-day, in-office policy for the remainder of this term, which ends in January 2027. Shortly after, the governor also postponed his return-to-office order for one year.
A CDE spokesperson said that the department’s telework policy, which allows eligible employees to work remotely three days a week, remains in place.
Washington, D.C., office has a bedbug problem, too
Sacramento isn’t the only capital dealing with bug infestations.
Earlier this month, the news organization NOTUS reported that a Department of Agriculture building outside Washington, D.C., has told employees to work from home because bedbugs were found in the George Washington Carver Center in May.
The facilities were fumigated and employees returned to the building, but the bedbugs came back as well. Instead of allowing workers to telework again, department leaders reportedly told employees they would have to take personal leave if they did not want to come into the office, according to the news organization.
