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State Agencies, Penn State Agree to Promote IPM in Schools - November 1998
November 16, 1998
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA -- A contracted pesticide company used to make the rounds of the Carlisle Area School District in Pennsylvania to spray for pests such as cockroaches and ants every month, whether it was needed or not. By using an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program, however, the school district has cut down on their use of pesticides.
Instead of regular spraying, physical controls such as caulking cracks and replacing window screens are used in addition to monitoring problem areas closely, said Howard Swarts, Director of Building and Grounds at the David L. Swartz Intermediate High School in Carlisle. "I've been pleasantly surprised by the success of our IPM program," commented Swarts. "Now we treat with pesticides only when the situation warrants it."
Soon, schools districts all over Pennsylvania may be following suite. Recently a memorandum of understanding was signed between representatives of Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences and College of Education along with Pennsylvania's Department of Agriculture and Department of Education.
The agreement will allow the signees to work together to develop educational materials for use in the state's public school system on IPM, conduct educational programs on IPM and promote the voluntary adoption of IPM in schools statewide. IPM programs in schools rely heavily on prevention, sanitation, maintenance, pest monitoring and record keeping to reduce reliance on pesticides. When pesticides are needed, materials that are the least toxic and have the shortest duration are used and are only applied when students, teachers or staff are not present.
Chris Herr, deputy secretary of agriculture, said Pennsylvania's Department of Agriculture has been a supporter of IPM for over ten years. "Youth is our most important state commodity, and IPM is one way of protecting it," he stated. Dr. Gerald Fowler, school superintendent, added "IPM helps us provide a more environmentally friendly learning environment for students, teachers and staff."
The signing organizations will also identify IPM concepts and tools that best serve educational purposes and will cooperate to obtain public and financial support for IPM awareness and education. Dr. Peter Rubba, head of the department of curriculum and instruction at Penn State, stated "Concepts in IPM deal directly with many of the same concepts in science education. It is an excellent tool for teaching science at the elementary, middle, and high school levels."
IPM is an approach to managing pests such as insects, weeds and diseases by integrating appropriate physical, biological and chemical tactics that are safe, profitable and environmentally compatible. The Pennsylvania IPM program is a collaboration between the Pennsylvania State University and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture aimed at promoting integrated pest management in both agricultural and nonagricultural situations.