Pittsburgh School District Receives Acknowledgement from IPM Star

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.-The Pittsburgh School District recently became the fifth school district in the nation and the first in Pennsylvania to become IPM Star certified by the IPM Institute of North America in recognition of its school integrated pest management program.

To become IPM Star certified, an inspector examines the history of a facility’s pest problems, the condition of buildings and grounds as well as any pesticides used in the past year. The school must have an IPM program in place to guide the administrators and staff as they respond to pest issues, including preventing and avoiding problems before they occur.

The certification process for Pittsburgh School District was conducted by Dr. Thomas Green, president of the IPM Institute of North America, an IPM research and education non-profit based in Madison, Wis. Green stresses that IPM is a perfect fit for any well-run school system. He said that IPM meshes well with other goals of school maintenance and administration professionals, such as energy conservation, food safety, and security. According to Green, preventative tactics such as repairing window screens and vent filters, keeping food serving and storage areas clean, and closing doors and dumpster lids can help to reduce the need for pesticides.

Maria Moio, pest control operator and IPM coordinator for the Pittsburgh School District, worked with the advocacy group Clean Water Action and used information from the Pennsylvania IPM Program to develop the school district’s current IPM policy.

The Pennsylvania IPM program is a collaboration between Penn State and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture aimed at promoting IPM in both agricultural and nonagricultural situations. paipm.cas.psu.edu