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New EPA Grant Enhances IPM in Schools - July 2001
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA -- A new EPA grant will enable a consortium led by the Pennsylvania IPM Program (PA IPM) to better integrate IPM into Pennsylvania schools.
Integrated Pest Management, or IPM, aims to control pests -- such as insects, diseases, weeds and animals -- by combining physical, biological and chemical tactics that are safe and environmentally compatible.
The consortium includes the Pennsylvania Departments of Agriculture, Education and Health as well as the Colleges of Agriculture and Education at Penn State whose purpose is to promote IPM implementation for school buildings and grounds as well as incorporate IPM principles into the public school curriculum.
In states where surveys have been done, a a majority of schools over rely on pesticides for their pest management programs. Implementing IPM in schools is a pesticide risk reduction strategy targeted at reducing pesticide exposure of children and other school occupants. It has also been documented that IPM programs can both control pests successfully and reduce pesticide use in schools while containing costs.
The new grant is part of the EPA's 2001 Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Grants (PESP) program and has several objectives. The grant will enable PA IPM to organize a state-level School IPM Advisory Panel to build a partnership for implementation of IPM in schools. Additionally, it will establish partnerships with cooperators in other EPA regions, give templates for local teamwork required for IPM implementation and allow operational use of the new PA School IPM manual as well as Pennsylvania School Board Association's model IPM policy in local implementation.
The proposed School IPM Advisory Panel will consist of stakeholders in the promotion of IPM in schools. The purpose of the panel is to provide a diversity of opinion as well as local knowledge in the design and goals of IPM.
The grant will also allow PA IPM to collaborate with the Michigan Department of Agriculture, which has already successfully established an IPM program in schools. Representatives from Michigan will visit with PA IPM school cooperators, and in turn, PA IPM personal will visit Michigan schools that have incorporated IPM activities and participate in community meetings held on School IPM.
PA IPM recently produced "IPM for Pennsylvania Schools: A How-To Manual" and previously worked with the PA School Board Association to create a model IPM policy for schools. These documents will help outline protocol for IPM implementation in schools, give protocols for specific pests, make pest surveillance kits to go along with the manual, and establish pilot training to select schools in two different environments.
PA IPM will also develop creative educational delivery methods for student and community involvement in IPM, including the development of a "skit" that skillfully addresses and disarms some of the psychological as well as intellectual barriers to understanding and use of IPM.
The program's goals are to increase the number of schools that have a functional IPM policy in place, increase the use of IPM in schools while decreasing pesticide use, increase the understanding of IPM principles by members of the school community, and establish better collaboration between state agencies.