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IPM
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MONROE-WOODBURY PUBLIC SCHOOLS Central Valley, NY |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 1, 2006 By: Monroe-Woodbury
Public Schools Awarded IPM STAR Certification Contact: Lynn Braband; 585 461 1000, ext. 241; Email CENTRAL VALLEY, NY- The Monroe-Woodbury Central School District in Central Valley, NY, has received the IPM STAR award for its initiative and hard work in reducing the exposure of its students to pesticides. Children are more vulnerable than adults to both pests and pesticides, notes Tom Green, entomologist and president of the IPM Institute of North America. The Institute sponsors the STAR award, given only to schools that pass a rigorous audit. “Children are more likely than adults to contact the ground, floor, or other areas where you’re likely to find pests and pesticide residues,” says Green. IPM means “integrated pest management” and is an international movement that develops and promotes science-based, least-toxic solutions to pest problems. The Monroe-Woodbury Central School District, with 7,500 students, is the 20th school district in the nation to receive the IPM STAR award. “The district has put a good deal of effort into meeting and documenting the standards that this award represents,” says Lynn Braband, an educator with Cornell University’s New York State IPM Program, who helped the school work through the audit process. Braband notes that prevention, a core tenet of IPM, helps schools avoid most pest problems, even in crowded, intensively used buildings and grounds. Monroe-Woodbury’s head groundskeeper, Gina Gatto, avoids herbicide use along fence lines by naturalizing those areas—letting them grow up in meadow plants or vines. Playfields pose a tougher problem. “We have thousands of people using the fields week in and out, all year long,” says Gatto, noting that the soil compaction that results from heavy foot traffic favors weeds. To minimize herbicide use, Gatto relocates goalposts and bleachers on 20-plus athletic fields each year to move play away from previously pounded center areas. Aerating, topdressing, and setting mower blades high also help turf recover and resist weeds. Monroe-Woodbury, Braband says, “already had an IPM mindset” when it began the certification process. “Even so, the school building maintenance and grounds units worked hard as a team to earn the IPM STAR award, achieving very high scores in the process,” Braband says. The
award will be presented on September 13, 2006 before a full meeting of the
Monroe-Woodbury school board. To learn more about IPM, visit the New York
State IPM Program’s website at www.nysipm.cornell.edu. |
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