Introduction to IPM for Texas SchoolsMike Merchant and Janet HurleyTexas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Dallas
Some school IPM history
1981 Chillicothe ISD Head louse
outbreak Parents applied ag
chemicals to school School closed for
over 4 weeks by State Health department
History of School IPM regulation in Texas
1991 School IPM legislation introduced (HB 2751), attached to final appropriations bill
1995 Enforcement begins under Structural Pest Control Board
2007 SPCB dissolved enforcement taken over by TDA
TDA updated school IPM rules based on Sunset Recommendations
2018 TDA updates rules through a new Subchapter under structural pest control service
Currently TDA inspects about 250 – 280 schools each fiscal year
What is Integrated Pest Management (IPM)?
Environmentally sensitive and
human health-centered pest
control
Science-based, best
management practices for
pests
A process that minimizes risks • risks of pests • risks related to
pesticides• Liability risks
A team effort!
IPM is a strategy based on multiple control tactics to ensure that:
• Pest populations are managed at acceptable levels
• Risks to people, other non-target organisms, and the environment are minimized
• Pest control is practical and economical
Questions we ask in IPM programs:• What are the pests?
• Why are they occurring?
• How did they get in?
• Where do they live?
• How can we make our school less pest-friendly?
Why IPM is a good idea
• Reduces complaints/work order requests for pest problems
• Long term costs equal or less than conventional pest control
• It’s the right thing to do for the health of our children and school staff
• Usually reduces pesticide use
• More effective at reducing allergens and pest-carried disease
Health, Environmental and Economic Risks of Pests and Pesticides in Schools and How IPM Reduces Risk
Pests and poor pest management practices in schools causes:• Health risks • Environmental risks• Economic risks
Pests can contaminate food causing food poisoning and upset stomachs
Physical harm
Exposure to some pest allergens can trigger asthma
Health, Environmental and Economic Risks of Pests and
Pesticides in Schools How IPM Reduces Risk
• Asthma affects about 9.5% of school children nationally and directly affects studentachievement
• US EPA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and American Academy of Pediatrics recommend IPM in schools to reduce asthma problems
• Asthma is the number one reason students miss school
How IPM Helps Your School Campuses • Pest related asthma triggers include allergens
associated with:• Cockroaches• Rodents• Dust mites• Molds and mildew• Pollen
• Pesticides may act as sensitizers or irritants that can make airways more sensitive to allergens
• IPM minimizes risks from pests and pesticides
Economic benefits of IPM• Pests can also cause building and grounds
damage• Costs can add up significantly if the cause of
problems goes unfixed
• Litigation and school closures can be extremely costly
* Rodents estimated to be responsible for up to 25% of all building fires of undetermined origin.
Squirrel caused power outage (Frisco ISD)*
A clinical fable
Key Elements of an IPM Program
• Identification
• Inspection and monitoring
• Thresholds to guide response
• Reporting
• Sanitation and waste management
• Maintenance and pest-proofing
• Selecting management methods and products
• Education and communication
• Evaluation
• Rules, regulations and policy
Key Elements of IPM -Identification
• Pest identification allows us to answer the other key questions:
• What is it?• Where does it live?• How did it get here?• Why is it here?• What treatments are
most effective?Odorous house ants live both indoors and out
Key Elements of IPM – Inspect, Monitor, Measure• Why inspect?
• To detect pest problems as early as possible
• To address pest conducive conditions before problems occur, especially in pest vulnerable areas (PVA’s) like kitchens, and food service areas
Fire ant mound located outside school kitchen
Key Elements of IPM –Inspect, Monitor, Measure• Inspection involves regular observation and recording of:
• The physical condition of buildings and grounds• Assessment of pest conducive conditions including
sanitation and exclusion• Detection of pest damage and pest signs• Detection of unsanctioned pest control attempts including
pesticides from home
What is an IPM inspection?
• Looks for signs of pests• Looks for critical things pests need
(conducive conditions)
• Includes a report!• Perhaps the most important part of an
IPM service call
Food
HarborageWaterTemperature
Key Elements of IPM –Conducive Conditions
• Trees and shrubs should NOT be planted against buildings, as they may provide pest harborage or easy entry
• Plants near to buildings should be pruned away from buildings to maintain three feet of clearance to allow easy inspection
• 12-18 inch vegetation-free perimeter around building foundations is ideal
Key Elements of IPM – Conducive Conditions
Cockroaches live in and feed on cardboard boxes When practical, discard boxes, date and store supplies so oldest used first
Problematic Preferred
Key Elements of IPM –Inspect, Monitor, Measure
• Why Monitor? • Allows 24/7 assessment
of pest activity • Determines pest
population levels and distribution
• Measures progress of pest control
American cockroaches on sticky card from kitchen storage
Key Elements of IPM – Inspect, Monitor, Measure Inspections provide qualitative
assessment (are pests present? and where?)
Monitoring traps allow objective measuring of the problem (how many?)
Key Elements of IPM –Inspect, Monitor, Measure• Action thresholds:
• Thresholds are boundaries between acceptable and unacceptable pest levels
• Establish pest specific tolerance levels for particular pests in specific locations
• e.g., 1 German cockroach in a kitchen is cause for further investigation and action
• The IPM coordinator and the Pest Management Professional will establish indoor and outdoor action thresholds
• TDA requires each district to have written thresholds for important insects, weeds.
No such thing as a threshold of zero…• Thresholds can be greater than or less than one
(e.g, average number of cockroaches per trap 1 cockroach in 100 traps=0.01)
• Different actions may be triggered by high, medium, low numbers of pests
• Having a threshold shows that you’ve thought through your IPM response
Brown banded cockroaches on glue board
Thresholds can be linked to specific responses
• (<1 German cockroach/trap) Level 1 Response
• Increase inspection frequency • Review monitoring devices • Conduct informal or formal
training with kitchen staff
• (1-15 German cockroaches/trap) Level 2 Responses
• Place cockroach bait close to monitoring device areas
• (> 15 German cockroaches/trap)Level 3 Response
• Apply dusts, aerosols, crack and crevice treatments
• Pull and deep-clean kitchen equipment
Thresholds can also vary by location
Red imported fire ant
Key Elements of IPM -Reporting• Pest sighting logs or work order systems can help
school staff report and respond to pest problems
• Systems allow methodical data tracing which is required
• Report:• Pests found• Signs of pests• Supportive conducive conditions• Pest entryways• Unsanctioned pest control attempts
Reporting - Sample Pest Sighting Log
Date/time
Location Pest # of Pests Person Reporting Sightings
Action Taken Date Action Completed/ Person
6/1/1310am
Classroom 102B ANTS Lots of ants Mrs. Smith, Teacher
Observed Odorous House Ants, removed food, sealed entryway and will monitor outdoors
6/2/13Burns, Maintenance
6/3/139pm
Kitchen pantry small cockroach
1 Ms. Brown, Kitchenmanager
Found German roach. Removedcardboard, placed monitoring traps to determine if cockroach came in with a delivery
6/5/13Jacobs, Contract PMP
6/5/137am
Admin office Big cockroach 2 Mr. Jones, Lead custodian
Observed American roaches. Replaced external doorway sweep and will monitor for activity
6/6/13Jones, Lead custodian
6/9/13 Outdoor athletics storage
Widow spider in webbing
1 adult Mr. Jones, Lead custodian
Vacuumed web, spider and egg sacs, sealed void associated with web
6/10/13Jones, Lead custodian
6/9/13 Booster club storage
Mouse 1 Ms. Frantic, Parent volunteer
Reduced clutter, improved sanitation levels, stopped volunteers propping door open during afterschool events
6/14/13Jones, Lead custodian
Key Elements of IPM -Reporting
• Recordkeeping is important because it allows:
• Accurate flow of information from one employee to another
• IPM Coordinators can identify trends in pest populations
• Documentation of problems and evaluation of solutions
• Protection for liability purposes
• Legal compliance – it’s the Law!
Key Elements of IPM – Sanitation and Waste Management
• Good sanitation and waste management practices critical components of pest prevention:
• Improving sanitation reduces pest access to food
• Our waste is often (usually) just as supportive for pestsas our food
Key Elements of IPM – Sanitation and Waste Management
• Clean-up food spills immediately (some pests only need minutes to find a resource)
• Restrict food and drinks to certain areas
• Seal stored food in airtight containers (odors attract foraging pests)
• Maintain clean dumpsters and keep surrounding areas free of debris
• Deep-clean pest-vulnerable areas in kitchens, cafeterias, food storage rooms
Key Elements of IPM –Maintenance and Pest proofing
• Prevent pest access to buildings by “pest-proofing” this includes preventing pests from the outside getting in, and preventing hitchhiking pests brought in by building occupants and in deliveries from spreading
• Seal cracks, crevices and holes around exterior wall penetrations
Key Elements of IPM Maintenance and Pest-proofing
• Effective door sweeps and seals can reduce pest entry up to 65%
• How many gaps can you see on this door?
Selecting pest management techniques and products
Pesticides
Biological
Physical/Mechanical
Cultural/Sanitation
Communication and Education
Key Elements of IPM –Education and Communication• IPM Coordinators provide leadership and serve as the main point
of contact regarding pest management in district facilities• A schoolboard-approved IPM Policy provides direction and
institutional memory
• IPM Plans keeps you organized• IPM training provides guidance to the community• Education most often over-looked IPM tactic
Key Elements of IPM – Cultural and Sanitation
• Garbage cans and exterior dumpsters should not be maintained too close to the school.
• It is recommended that dumpsters be at least 10 feet from the entryways and when possible 50 feet away.
• Shrubs and trees must be trimmed so they are not in contact to exterior walls or rooflines.
• Recommended distance from buildings is one (1) foot.
• Exterior lighting must be non-attractant. • Replace halogen bulbs with low-pressure
sodium vapor lights over entry areas. (This is extremely important to keep crickets down so that spiders do not follow)
Key Elements of IPM-Physical and Mechanical
• Lights
• Traps
• Screening
• Vacuuming
• Deep cleaning
Key Elements of IPM –Biological Control• Use of living organisms to control pests
• Examples:• Parasitic insects• Predators• Nematodes• Microbial scum digesters
Key Elements of IPM – Pesticides• Herbicides (weed control)
• Insecticides (insect control)
• Fungicides (fungus control)
• Rodenticides (rodent control)
Pesticide classification
• Any labeled pesticide can be used in a Texas public school
• Low-impact insecticides use is encouraged through GYR classification system
• Green pesticides can be used at discretion of applicator
• Signature approvals required for use of yellow and red pesticides
Key Elements of IPM - Evaluation
• Is your IPM program evaluated annually to determine what’s working and what ‘s not?
• Are pests persisting?
• Are there emerging issues?
• Are pest management methods and products the least hazardous and effective?
• Are there community communication challenges or education needs?
Policy, Plan and Program What it takes to keep your IPM program going to be successful
What is an IPM Policy?
• a course or principle of action adopted or proposed by a government, party, business, or individual
• For school IPM policies are set by the School Board
• CLB – Local & Legal
Pest Management Plans • Plans are detailed instructions on how key pests will
be managed• Monitoring plans and thresholds• Preferred treatment plan (tactics and
strategies)• http://schoolipm.tamu.edu/forms/pest-
management-plans/
Pest Management Plans • All plans should incorporate multiple control
tactics
• Chemical and non-chemical tactics• Biological controls• Cultural controls• Physical and mechanical controls
• Pesticides• Low risk preferred over higher risk
• Preventative tactics
Integrated control plans available online
• School IPM website• https://schoolipm.tamu.edu/
forms/pest-management-plans/
• IPM Action Plans for more than a dozen key pests
• Use as a temporary plan, modify for your own district
What is an IPM Program
A set of related measures or activities with a particular long-term aim.
The IPM program recognizes that maintenance of a safe, clean and healthful environment for students and staff is essential to learning.
The key components of School IPM are:
• Pest Identification, Prevention, Maps, Recordkeeping, Set Action Thresholds, Monitoring, Analyze and Choose Options, Notification, Implementation/Action, Evaluating, and Educating.
What pests need to be part of a school IPM program?
• All environmental pests• Insects
• cockroaches, ants, bees, flies, termites, etc.• Vertebrate pests
• rodents, birds, feral cats, bats, etc.• Weeds
• aquatic and turfgrass weeds• Not medical pests
• Head lice• Bacteria, scabies, ring worm
Old model
The “Bug” man
Responsibility
New Model: Your IPM Team
Team work is the most overlooked part of the IPM Program use your team to make your program successful. • IPM Coordinator
• Superintendent/school board• IPM Contractors• Principals
• School nurses• Staff• Teachers
• Students• Parents
Keys to success of school IPM in Texas
Mandatory licensing
and training
IPM coordinators and applicators
Focus on IPM not pesticide
restrictions
Monitoring, thresholds, recordkeeping, education,
using less hazardous pesticides when available
Extension Involvement
1.25 FTE positions dedicated to School IPM
Enforcement20% schools
inspected annually
Questions
Top Related