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IPM
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PITTSBURGH PUBLIC SCHOOLS Pittsburgh, PA
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To view a press release on Pittsburgh Public School's IPM Star Certification, click here. May 27th, 2004 The pest
management program for Pittsburgh Public Schools is administered by the
Plant Operations Department of the Pittsburgh Board of Education.
The school system currently includes 35,000 students and 96 school
buildings, with 15 slated to be closed over the next few years due to
attrition of the student population. One
new school is under construction. The IPM
program is managed by Ms. Mario Moio.
Ms. Moio started her career with Pittsburgh BOE in 1983 as a
custodian and A/B fireman. Moio assumed
responsibility for pest management in 1989, initially under the direction
of Tom Motley, and it has been in her hands ever since.
Moio and her team of custodians faced a steep learning curve: The
first time staff took the pesticide applicator licensing exam, not one
passed! The team attacked on
problem site at a time, removing 360 rats from one building over a
six-month period. Since then,
the team has greatly improved pest control, and reduced pesticide use and
risks. Ms. Moio
attributes her success in large part to the support she has received her
supervisor and director of plant operations, Mr. Jay Boyd.
He has allowed her to develop and maintain the program, including
continually experimenting with new techniques. Additionally,
support from the custodial staff has been critical.
“If you have a good custodian, pest problems are mostly
solved,” says Moio, who is responsible for training and licensing of 292
district staff, including custodians, pool operators and tradesmen.
Twenty-nine custodians are licensed pesticide applicators, and are
largely responsible for pest management in their buildings, under
supervision by Moio, who must approve any pesticide applications.
Moio also manages parent notifications for all pesticide
applications. In
recognition of her efforts, Moio was awarded the “Extra Effort Award”
by Pittsburgh Public Schools in June of 2001.
The program has been highlighted in a article in the Pittsburgh
Post Gazette (The Bug Lady: She Keeps the Lid on Pests in Pittsburgh Schools, March
2004), and in a profile on the Penn State IPM Program web site:http://paipm.cas.psu.edu/NewsReleases/NRpittsbsch.html.
Moio stands
out as an energetic IPM ambassador. She
is frequently asked to teach classes, and has developed both flip chart
and Powerpoint presentations on “Good and Bad Bugs.”
The presentation includes sections on how to dress in the woods to
avoid pest problems, and how to recognize both pests and beneficials
including cockroaches, head lice, wood ticks, stinging insects, flies,
ants and lady beetles. She
also consults and provides training to other area schools, including
private schools in Pittsburgh, about IPM. Pesticide
use reduction has come about largely through improved control, fewer
complaints, and a drive for greater efficiency.
“Why am I spraying this building if they don’t have a
problem?” Moio recalls asking herself.
“What a waste of time!” Additional
improvements resulted from the active involvement of a local advocacy
group, Clean Water Action. In
1995, activists were continually questioning Moio about pesticide use
practices in the schools. Along
with BOE members, Moio met with the group, leading to the development of a
formal, written IPM policy and plan focusing on monitoring, sanitation and
exclusion as primary strategies. Recent
legislation has also spurred program changes, including notification
practices and pesticide applicator licensing for tradesmen, who often need
to deal with stinging insects nests in the course of maintaining lighting
and other outdoor features. Sanitation
is a key practice, including regular drain cleaning.
Vaseline is used around the lip of drains as a barrier to crawling
insects. The program uses a
variety of non-chemical products, including yellow jacket traps, the L’il Hummer vacuum, mechanical weed trimmers and live-catch traps and
snap traps for rodents and small animals.
Sanitation products (Super C, Drain Gel) are used to clean up pest
scent trails and food sources. Moio’s
excellent “people” skills are a great asset as she works with
custodial, kitchen and maintenance staff to resolve any sanitation or
exclusion issues, such as fruit flies in kitchens or door seal replacement
and repair. The majority of
pest complaints are for “imported” pests, brought in by students and
others from off school grounds. A partially
computerized recording keeping system allows Moio to track pest complaints
and resolution by school and from year to year.
The pest form system includes a “long form” with entries for
information on the problem and resolution, including detail on any
pesticide application. In
addition, custodians send a pest log form to Moio’s office monthly for
her review, so that she can resolve any ongoing problems.
The log form lists sensitive areas and key pests to make reporting
easy for the custodian. The
computerized records are used to generate a system-wide annual report. Pesticide
spray applications are minimal: for
example, seven total at Moio works
with both IPM committees she is establishing in the schools, and also a
system-wide safety committee which meets monthly. In-house
licensed staff treat school grounds and playing fields for weeds under the
direction of Rody Rodocker, Labor Landscape Foreman.
Treatments are made only on weekends, and treated areas are posted
on fencelines and notification is made via backpack mail. - To view a press release on
Pittsburgh Public School's IPM Star Certification, click here.
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