After two years of working with the University of Georgia’s
“IPM for Schools” program, Paul Guillebeau has seen
some schools with excellent pest control programs. Unfortunately,
he’s seen a lot of schools with bad records, too.

Worth and Gwinnett Leading the
Pack

When the program began two years ago, Worth and Gwinnett
counties’
school systems were the only ones actively working to reduce
pesticides.

“They were doing such an outstanding job that we use them
as examples of what other schools can do,” said Guillebeau,
Integrated Pest Management coordinator for the UGA College of
Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

“Gwinnett is a really big school system, and Worth is
at the other end of the spectrum,” he said. “So they
make perfect examples.”

Schools Need Pest
Policies

But Guillebeau found that most schools don’t even have written
pest control policies.

“If a school doesn’t have a policy, a teacher can keep
a can of Raid in her desk,” he said. “You can see the
liability if a child got the can and sprayed another child in
the face with it.”

Guillebeau said spraying aerosols can also interfere with bait
roach controls. “If the pest control company has placed
baits
in the room to fight roaches, and the teacher sprays a trail of
Raid, the roaches can’t get to the baits,” he said.

The IPM for Schools program recommends that only people with
training be allowed to apply pesticides in the school, and then
only when children aren’t present.

Finding Ways to Reduce Pesticide
Risks

Throughout the program, Guillebeau has uncovered numerous
opportunities
to reduce pesticide risks.

“One school had a big problem with roaches in their
kindergarten
area,” he said. “They were treating for roaches on a
regular basis, and this is an area where you’d want to treat the
least.”

An inspection of the classroom revealed snack foods stored
uncovered, overnight, in several places. The pest control company
suggested the school develop a policy that all snack foods must
be eaten in an area where maintenance workers can easily clean
up, and leftover food items must be stored in sealed
containers.

“After that, they didn’t have to spray anymore in the
kindergarten room,” he said. “They just didn’t
understand
the link between the food and the roaches.”