Can Santa Monica-Malibu schools function without using any pesticides?
The district’s policy on pest control now includes that stated goal, a lofty aspiration in the aftermath of a flea infestation at a Santa Monica elementary campus that required an army of chemicals to eradicate.
The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) is aiming to follow through on its commitment by focusing on long-term prevention efforts, including better monitoring and maintenance, although officials acknowledged the barriers to eliminating pesticide use altogether.
The policy that had been in place has essentially been ignored, according to acting facilities director Carey Upton during statements made in October.
“In my review, it seems we were doing some of these things, but it became easier … to just go with the poisons,” Upton, who was new to the office at the time, said during the Oct. 1 meeting in Malibu. Now it seems the SMMUSD is putting their money where their mouth is — or at least beginning to.
“This is not a ban, but a goal and includes new aspirational statements by the district to work toward eliminating use of pesticides,” clarified district spokesperson Gail Pinsker in an emailed message.
The district will consider using pesticides “only after careful monitoring indicates that they are needed” and will use chemicals “that pose the least possible hazard and are effective in a manner that minimizes risks to people, property and the environment,” reads the updated SMMUSD policy, which the local Board of Education approved at its meeting Dec. 17.
The district has committed to a ban on anticoagulant rodenticides since early 2014, according to Jan Maez, the district’s chief financial officer, but officials expressed interest in formalizing SMMUSD best practices.
“It’s something we believed we should put in policy,” Maez said.
Upton urged the board to consider finding a new contractor for pest control, a process that could take several months. He said the district should expect to spend as much as $60,000 annually on thorough pest managemen — more than double the roughly $28,000 it currently spends each year. Prevention work across the district would also likely require a one-time expenditure of about $120,000, he said.
Board member Jose Escarce said he supported allocating money for more comprehensive solutions.
“It would be hypocritical to demand [integrated pest management] and not provide the resources,” he said.
Upton said the district needs more help with environmental compliance and recommended the hiring of an additional staffer in the facilities division to work on related issues. But, he added, effective pest control also hinges on the actions of students and other members of SMMUSD school communities.
“We’re not going to get even near this goal if, every day after lunch, the place is strewn with trash,” Upton said. “As long as we’re providing food and a great environment for the pest, we’re going to have pests. We’re going to have to work our way through how to get everyone on board with this idea … that the food you just dropped on the ground might force us to use a pesticide that could end up back in your system.”
When pest control came up for discussion in Malibu in October, board members sought to update the district’s policy with a stated goal of not using pesticides, insecticides or rodenticides.
The October meeting came on the heels of a school district decision to use fumitoxin on rodent infestations at Malibu schools – a choice that raised the ire of Malibu parents and environmental leaders from nonprofit Poison Free Malibu.
The district has seen a rise in ants, spiders, roaches and fleas since it stopped regular perimeter spraying of pesticides about two years ago, according to Upton. He said the district doesn’t have a strong command of non-toxic pesticide options and added that preventive pesticide treatments are “a pretty good idea.”
Upton noted that Pepperdine University has stopped using most rodenticides but that it regularly treats cafeterias, dormitories and other areas with food waste.
“It is a very good aspirational goal,” he said of the new SMMUSD language on pest control. “But we’re not yet at a place, and products are not at a place, to go to non-use of pesticides.”
“We share the interest of the Malibu community to move toward more effective preventive measures so that we do not have to use pesticides, and have begun to work toward this goal,” Pinsker wrote.
A previous version of this story ran in the Santa Monica Daily Press.