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On
September 27, 2000, Governor Gray Davis signed into law the Healthy
Schools Act of 2000. This law requires school districts to notify
employees and parents/guardians about pesticides used in their schools,
and requires the Department of Pesticide Regulation to promote the
voluntary adoption of integrated pest management practices in schools.
Each school district is to implement the following requirements:
Provide
school staff and parents/guardians with annual written notification of
all non-exempt pesticide products the District expects to use on school
grounds.
Each school shall provide the opportunity for interested staff and parents/guardians to register with the District if they want to be notified of individual pesticide applications at the school before they occur.
Post
warning signs in areas where pesticides will be applied. These signs
will be posted 24 hours before and 72 hours after the pesticide
application.
Each
school will maintain records of all pesticide use at the school for
four years and make the records available to the public upon request.
It
is the policy of the State that effective least-toxic pest management
practices should be the preferred method of managing pests at schools.
To that end, the District will adhere to the philosophy and definition
of integrated pest management (IPM) as defined by the Healthy Schools
Act of 2000. The Act defines IPM as a pest management strategy that
focuses on long-term prevention or suppression of pest problems through a
combination of techniques such as monitoring for pest presence and
establishing treatment threshold levels, using non-chemical practices to
make habitat less conducive to pest development, improving sanitation,
and using mechanical and physical controls. Pesticides that pose the
least possible hazard and are effective in a manner that minimizes risks
to people, property, and the environment are used only after careful
monitoring indicates they are needed according to pre-established
guidelines and treatment thresholds.
PESTICIDE APPLICATION
The
District will not use any pesticides known to have cancer causing
agents, or causing damage to the reproductive or nervous system. This
restriction applies to pesticide applications by district staff and
contractor alike. Only those pesticides listed on the District's
authorized list will be utilized to control District pests and then will
be applied only when all other less toxic control measures have failed
to reach successful results. There will be no pesticide applications
during regular school hours, unless the presence of that pest is deemed
more dangerous than the treatment.
Staff
and parents may register with the District to receive notification of
any pesticide application at their work site/child's school site 72
hours prior to the application. The notification will include the
product's name, active ingredient and the intended application date.
To register with the District, mail the Pesticide Notification Registration form (available online and at work site/school site) to:
Chico Unified School District
Randy Salado, Director
Maintenance/Operations
2455 Carmichael Drive
Chico, CA 95928
You
may also drop off your registration form at the same address between
the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Warning
signs will be posted 24 hours prior to the application and will remain
posted for 72 hours after the application. The sign will display the
term Warning/Pesticide Treated Area and will include the name of the
pesticide, the manufacturer's name, the United States Environmental
Protection Agency's product registration number, the intended
application date, the areas to be treated, and the reason for the
pesticide treatment.
PESTICIDE EXEMPTIONS
Pesticide
products deployed in the form of a self-contained bait or trap, gel or
paste deployed as a crack and crevice treatment, any pesticide exempted
from regulation by the United States Environmental Protection Agency
pursuant to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7
U.S.C. Sec. 25 (b)), or antimicrobial pesticides, including sanitizers
and disinfectants, are exempt from the record keeping, written
notification, and posting requirements of the Healthy Schools Act of
2000.
PROCUREMENT/DISPENSING OF PESTICIDES
The
Maintenance/Operations Manager is a certified pesticide applicator and
will be responsible for the purchase of pesticides. No purchase of
pesticides intended to be applied on District property will be allowed
by school sites or individual staff members. At the discretion of the
Maintenance/Operations Manager, and with proper training and information
to ensure compliance to both the Department of Pesticide Regulations
and the Healthy Schools Act of 2000 safety regulations and laws in
applying a pesticide, a staff member may be allowed to disperse a
pesticide.
DISTRICT IPM COORDINATOR
The
designated District IPM Coordinator will be the Director of
Maintenance/Operations, or a designee, who will monitor all pest
problems. The IPM Coordinator will be responsible for approving the list of all pesticides/herbicides for use in the schools, monitoring and/or coordinating the issuance of parent and staff notification
letters, site record keeping of pesticide usage, and maintenance of the
registrant list as defined in the Healthy Schools Act of 2000.
RECORD KEEPING AND REPORTING
Every
school site will maintain records of all pesticides applied at that
site. Those records will be kept for four years, and are available to
any member of the public.
On
July 1 of every year, the Director of Maintenance/Operations, or
designee, will gather the above data and will provide a collective report detailing the following information site-by-site:
Each and every pesticide application from the previous year;
Date application was made;
Location on campus of application;
Pest problem being treated; and
Summary of all applications for that site.
This report will be submitted to the Superintendent and will be made accessible to the public and staff.
Material
Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for all pesticides used at a site will be
maintained at the site and will be available to the staff and public.
For
more information regarding pesticides and pesticide use reduction,
visit the Department of Pesticide Regulation's Web site at http://www.cdpr.ca.gov and click School IPM Program. |
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