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Funded Project |
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Funding Program:
IPM Partnership Grants |
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Project Title:
Northeast School IPM Working Group: Collaborative Support for Verifiable School IPM Adoption |
Project Director (PD):
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Lead State: ME Lead Organization: Maine Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources |
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Cooperating State(s):
Maine |
| Undesignated Funding: $15,000 |
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Start Date: Apr-01-2012 End Date: Feb-28-2013 |
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No-Cost Extension Date: Oct-31-2013 |
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Site/Commodity: School |
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Area of Emphasis: turf, buildings, curriculum, demonstration, coalition, environmental management system |
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Summary:
Schools need support and assistance to adopt IPM practices. The Northeast School IPM Working Group (NESIWG), established in 2008, includes broad representation of organizations and agencies serving schools throughout the northeastern states. We propose to collaborate regionally to 1) establish school IPM demonstrations and coalitions to support and promote adoption of IPM practices and policies, 2) identify and capitalize upon opportunities for collaboration with other organizations to support and promote implementation of healthy, effective and sustainable pest management practices for schools, 3) improve access to IPM resources for school and childcare stakeholders, and 4) strengthen the capacity of the NESIWG to accomplish its mission and goals. We have leveraged additional funds to support establishment of school IPM coalitions in four states. With this proposal we are seeking funding to cover costs of communication and travel to support regional collaboration and resource sharing, complete projects underway, collaborate on national level to tackle new initiatives, and capitalize on our accomplishments to date. We anticipate this project will minimize pesticide exposure risk in schools, increase compliance with state regulations, and safeguard the health of students and teachers in and around schools throughout the northeast. Objectives:
Anticipated Impacts Our proposed project directly addresses goals of the IPM Roadmap for human and environmental health impacts, economic impacts and IPM implementation impacts as outlined below. We will utilize components of the logic model under development by the NE IPM Center's Assessment Working Group to help measure our impacts. Human Health and Environmental Health Impacts. Our project will lead to an increase in the number of schools practicing high level IPM, thereby safeguarding human health and the environment. Schools will be encouraged to utilize pest-prevention and pest monitoring to reduce reliance on pesticides and to select least-risk control methods to minimize risks of human exposure to pests and pesticide. IPM practicing schools are likely to have improved indoor air quality and playgrounds and athletic fields that are safer for play. In addition, our work to identify and promote utilization of K-12 educational curricula for use in the classroom is expected to increase awareness of pest and pesticide risks and least-risk IPM practices among students representing the next generation of pesticide users. Economic Impacts. School IPM implementation is sometimes more difficult to quantify. Studies (Lame 2005, Brajkovich et al. 2010) have shown that IPM can save money in the long-term. Therefore we anticipate that our project will benefit schools, and thus taxpayers and communities competing for tax dollars. IPM Implementation Impacts. Educational materials will be made available to all schools in the northeast via outreach by members and our partners and through the NEIPMC searchable database. By facilitating schools to develop their own local support coalitions we anticipate enhanced collaboration among IPM practitioners, educators, school administrators, athletic directors, custodial and maintenance staff and other school staff. This model of knowledge diffusion has been shown to be an effective means of changing behaviors to adopt improved practices (Gouge et al, 2006). Our effort will facilitate the ultimate goal of effective, self- sustaining school IPM coalitions in all states, where trained and experienced school professionals recruit and mentor peers at other districts. |
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Final Report: |
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Impacts Safeguarding human health and the environment: The NESIWG supported the establishment teams of partners (Extension staff, state agency staff, local pest management providers, and school staff) in Connecticut and Vermont. The Connecticut team developed new resources and provided IPM training to school staff and turf care providers throughout the state to safeguard childrens health while also meeting new state-mandated restrictions on pesticide use on school grounds. The Vermont team developed and widely disseminated a tool-kit of school IPM resources and field-tested it at a guided demonstration at a school district in Vermont, a state with little previous support for school IPM. That team, trained and connected to a larger network of school IPM support organizations and individuals can now serve as multipliers of IPM, as they did when they provided state-wide IPM training for school custodians and maintenance staff in 2011. Continued focused outreach by NESIWG and its membership brought renewed attention to IPM as a critical component of environmental and childrens health. NESIWG member, Veronika Carella, standing with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, highlighted the need for, and the positive health impacts of school IPM at a press conference held April 11, 2011 at Montgomery, MD public schools. IPM has been shown to reduce risks of pests and pesticides, improve indoor air quality and safeguard the health of children and school staff. Also in 2011, NESIWG members working out of EPA Region 3 offices have provided on-site support for IPM adoption in Philadelphia and the District of Columbia. As a result of this project schools throughout 11 northeastern states and the District of Columbia are represented through NESIWGs network of partners and have improved access to training and resources for reducing potential exposure of people and the environment to high-risk pesticides and pests. In addition, more than 20,000 K-12 students and almost 2,000 teachers have learned about IPM as a result or NESIWGs K-12 IPM curriculum demonstration project. Economic benefits: Although economic outcomes are not directly measured in this project, it is likely that schools that adopt IPM as a result of this project, may realize economic benefits as a result of 1) saving energy costs by sealing the building envelop to keep pests out of buildings, 2) eliminating unnecessary pesticide applications, and 3) reducing staff absences due to improved indoor air quality. NESIWG collaborated with the IPM Institute of N.A.to develop and disseminate a publication highlighting the economic benefits of school IPM. This publication, The Business Case for School IPM (Chambers et al. 2011 published at: www.ipminstitute.org/school_ipm_2015/resources.htm#Outreach) cites cases from actual school districts (including Montgomery County, MD school district, in our region) showing annual cost savings from IPM adoption ranging from $1,000 to $32,000 and estimated savings of hundreds of thousands of dollars per district in increased student and teacher attendance and teacher retention due to improved indoor air quality. Implementation of IPM: Potential impact of NESIWG, through our network of partners and stakeholders is improved IPM implementation in schools serving almost 9.1 million children enrolled in grades K through 12 in the northeast [Student Enrollment in the US, US Census Bureau Report 2011]. NESIWGs listserv directly reaches 62 people in 20 states. |
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Outcomes NESIWG has leveraged $62,650 of additional funds from three other grants. This does not include salaries, fringe and overhead costs associated with hundreds of hours of time contributed by NESIWG members and leaders to NESIWGs projects and activities. NESIWG expanded our network members and collaborators who share resources, educational materials, announcements, and technical expertise throughout the northeast via monthly conference calls and a listserv also established by the group. Focused activity in Maine, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, Maryland, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania have expanded upon NESIWG activities to promote school IPM within their states and across the region. The group convened a face-to-face meeting in Baltimore, MD in October 2012 to review project progress, develop a plan of work for 2013, share information and resources among members and build new partnerships with the US Green Building Council. This meeting included a visit to a local school to meet with staff and discuss their IPM program. The NESIWG participated in regular conference calls with leaders of three other regional school IPM working groups to review and plan work and share information, resources and announcements related to school IPM across the U.S. The group worked with the NE IPM Center to update NESIWGs webpage on the NEIPM Centers website (www.neipmc.org/work_school.cfm) and to make more school and childcare IPM resources widely available through the Centers searchable database. Materials developed or distributed as part of this project are also posted on our website for ready access and distribution throughout the region and beyond. In addition, NESIWG partners with the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to maintain and update the teacher-friendly K-12 curriculum website which serves as a central clearing house for free, easily accessible lessons and other resources for classroom use. We developed a promotional brochure which is disseminated to educators via teacher workshops, conferences, university education programs and other venues. To date more than 20,000 students and almost 2400 teachers have learned about IPM. We established a national listserv of educators and IPM specialists to promote and facilitate exchange of resources and ideas related to educating youth and teachers about IPM. |
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