When Texas schools have an insect problem, they are finding help from an unexpected ally—experts at The Texas A&M University System Agricultural Research and Extension Center at Dallas.
The center is the home of Texas Cooperative Extension’s program aimed at helping schools comply with state laws that require them to be extremely careful when using chemicals and other means in treatments for insect and other pests on school property.
Mike Merchant, urban entomologist with Texas Cooperative Extension, said that pests in schools are probably not among the big issues that school administrators and parents worry about.
David
Lewis, IPM coordinator for Plano ISD, inspects one of the
district's school kitchens for German cockroaches with the help of Janet
Hurley, school IPM coordinator for the Southwest Technical Resource
Center. (Texas Cooperative Extension Photo by Mike Merchant)
“But when pest problems occur or when there’s a pesticide spill, it can quickly become a headline,” Merchant said. “We try to keep schools out of headlines by helping them do a better job at keeping the school a clean, safe place for kids,” using the safest possible means.
Extension’s program, organized under the Southwest Technical Resources Center, teaches schools how to use integrated pest management techniques to handle insect, rodent and other pest problems. IPM uses an array of tools to handle such problems, rather than depend only on chemical pesticides.
“The help and assistance I’ve gotten from the center has really made a difference in the school board’s support and in helping to make our IPM program a success,” said Valisia Grebe, the IPM coordinator for the Brenham Independent School District.
“We built a new high school in the middle of a big field, and it was infested with mice before it even opened,” she said. “The first summer the district caught 147 mice in glue traps, and it’s steadily dropped every year since. We had a big cricket problem, too. I baited them and greatly reduced the cricket numbers, which in turn greatly reduced our ant problem. The ants were feeding on dead crickets.”
Janet Hurley, Extension’s School IPM coordinator, attributes a proactive approach on the part of Grebe and school administrators for the district’s success with its integrated pest management program.
“She conducts routine inspections early in the morning before school even opens to make sure the buildings are safe for children and teachers. She addresses each pest problem with devotion and dedication,” Hurley said.
“Her favorite friend is the digital camera. When Valisia finds a problem, she takes a picture of it to show her administrators and ensure she gets the support necessary to take care of it.”
The Brenham school district was one of three recognized by the technical resources center this year as having the best integrated pest management systems in Texas’ public schools.
Since the center opened in 2001, it has advised one third of Texas’ 1,039 school districts on how to address specific pest management problems and how to improve their overall integrated pest management programs.
“In some cases, we have helped the districts save virtually thousands of dollars on pesticides and sometimes avoid costly fines,” Hurley said.
She has criss-crossed the state, helping school districts battle everything from bats and bull nettles to fire ants and fleas.
“Almost every school we’ve worked with, we’ve helped them go from a non-compliance status to a compliance status and stay that way. We train schools to better manage their pest programs by being pro-active rather than reactive,” Hurley explained.
But what makes her shake her head most often, she said, is schools that just accept their fines when help is so readily available.
“I just heard of another district that’s taking a $5,000 fine and didn’t even bother to call me,” Hurley said with a sigh. The fines are levied by the Texas Structural Pest Control Board when it finds a school out of compliance with state IPM regulations.
In recognition of the effectiveness of the schools IPM program, the center received the Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program Champion award from the Environmental Protection Agency in July.
In September, Hurley learned the center is receiving a Superior Service Award, the top honor given by Texas Cooperative Extension.
“The Extension award means a lot, because it’s recognition from your peers and coworkers for a job well done,” Hurley said. The award will be presented in January.