Abstract

The New York State IPM Program works with schools to reduce risks to children from both pests and the overuse of pesticides.

Issue

Pest management in schools has received increased attention in New York State and nationwide due to the critical need to decrease pesticide use to protect our children, who, by nature of their size and developmental stage, are at greater risk than adults. At the same time, we cannot compromise the quality of pest control because pests represent an equally important health hazard. Schools are especially challenging to manage because they include such varied settings as classrooms, cafeterias, laboratories, auditoriums, theaters, playing fields, playgrounds, and gardens that are used for a variety of purposes, including after-hours public meetings. Visitors, staff, and students are frequently in direct contact with the lawns, athletic fields, flowers, trees, playgrounds, and buildings on the school grounds. Recent passage of a New York State (NYS) pesticide notification law has resulted in additional pressure on schools to reduce pesticide use.

Response

We are developing a "learning community" of school district personnel, peer mentors, and cooperative extension educators to develop four district-level model school IPM programs in the lower Hudson River Valley. In 2004, we organized the learning community team and conducted the initial assessment of the four school districts. As of January 2005, the school districts are developing their draft IPM improvement plans. To complement a 2001 statewide survey of New York State public school pest management policies and practices, we initiated on-site school interviews in 2002. In 2004, five school districts were interviewed bringing the total to 32 school districts.

In October 2004, we held a third meeting of the Statewide School IPM Committee. In addition to the diverse membership updating each other on their school IPM activities, we had a special presentation by an invited BOCES representative on IPM record keeping and discussed visions for school IPM in the state. We partnered with the Jefferson-Lewis BOCES to host a school IPM workshop in Watertown, NY. Attended primarily by school facilities staff, the workshop had presentations on turf IPM, effects of soil types, implementing structural pest management in schools, ants, geese, bats, pest proofing, landscaping IPM, and classroom sanitation.

Impact

We are six months into the two-year learning community project. A major goal is that all four school districts will become eligible to receive the IPM Institute's STAR certification award, a national award indicating achievement of a high level of school IPM policies and practices. The school interviews are providing valuable input for school IPM research and extension activities. New York State IPM Program staff have been using the interview results to guide project development. The learning community project is one such effort. One of the highlights of the interview results is that, when implemented, schools consider IPM successful because they have fewer pest problems. The interviews have revealed that the major challenges to schools implementing IPM include lack of funds, food in classrooms, constituency apathy and resistance, and heavy use of facilities. One of the most important outcomes in October's meeting of the Statewide School IPM Committee was a list of where we would like New York State schools to be in five to ten years. Desired indicators included effective IPM record keeping, IPM in the curricula, pest prevention incorporated into facility construction, and IPM incorporated into teacher training.

Funding Sources

• Other USDA (e.g., Water Quality, Special Grants, NRI)
• State or Municipal (e.g., NYSDAM)

Collaborators

• Gary Couch and Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann, NYS IPM Program. Rose Baglia, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Orange County. Rick Harper, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Westchester County, Teresa Rusinek, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County. Kevin Trotta, North Rockland Central School District. Dan Dickerson, New York City Board of Education. Jefferson-Lewis BOCES. Following school districts: Minisink Valley, Monroe-Woodbury, New Paltz, Scarsdale.

Key Personnel

• Lynn Braband, NYS IPM Program, NYSAES, Geneva, New York