Education Plan

• IPM Policy Plan

Who Needs Educating?

In short, everyone in the school community needs educating, including school board members, superintendents, principals, teachers, facilities, custodial, grounds, maintenance, kitchen staff, nursing, environmental health and safety, nutrition, children, and parents. Everyone has a role no matter how minor it might be. Education to most groups does not have to be complicated. 

Frequency of Education

For general school community members such as administrators, students, parents, and teachers/faculty, a yearly reminder of the IPM program, how it operates, and their particular roles, is adequate. You can also distribute a school IPM newsletter to these groups throughout the year, if desired, to keep them thinking about the program and how they can help minimize pest conducive conditions. Education can also occur on an as-needed basis as part of a pest management plan. 

For those involved in the day-to-day IPM program (IPM Coordinator, site coordinators (head custodians), custodial, maintenance, kitchen staff, grounds and others in charge of administering the program) more frequent and more in-depth education and training should be considered. The IPM coordinator should become an expert in IPM and pest control practices, and is typically the individual who conducts the education programs. Custodians, kitchen staff, maintenance, grounds should all receive specialized training on IPM techniques specific to their jobs. They should learn about IPM principles and practices, how to sustainably implement IPM within their school districts, know how to identify common school pests and how to manage those pests using IPM.

To institutionalize IPM, IPM training and education must become part of the school system. By making IPM education and training mandatory and regular, everyone in the district should have a at least a basic understanding of IPM and the IPM program being practiced and their particular roles.

Examples of Education and Levels of Education

For most groups—superintendents, parents, kids, various staff—education can be relatively simple. They should be aware of the program, and what they can do to help out.

You can notify parents with letters about the IPM program, teachers and staff at monthly meetings, Children at general assemblies.

IPM posters can be hung in teacher lounges, etc., and fact sheets can be used to teach about specific problem pests.

More advanced training is necessary for those who oversee and participate in the daily activities of the IPM program:

IPM Coordinator training should occur on a regular basis via University programs (contact USU), district programs, online programs, books, etc.  IPM Coordinators should contact USU or the Coalition for help in dealing with specific pest issues.  

Example of an Education Plan

1. Education, Training & Communication

Training will be provided by the IPM Coordinator or other qualified IPM trainer to all faculty, staff and administration. All stake holders will be made aware of the IPM program and their particular roles. More advanced training will be given to those who have day-to-day responsibilities included in the IPM plan. 

IPM training for facility managers
IPM Training will be included as part of the agenda for the annual facility manager’s workshop. One of the components of a facility manager's responsibility is facility maintenance. Pest management is an integral component of facility maintenance. Subject matter such as facility sanitation, maintenance, sanitation through maintenance, sanitation through design, good manufacturing practices, HACCP, Landscape maintenance & related pest management will be discussed during such workshops to assist IPM program.
 
IPM training for school or district IPM Coordinators and site IPM Coordinators
We (your school or district) will work with in coordination with USU or the Utah Coalition for IPM in Schools to create or deliver IPM-Project Management Training for IPM Coordinators on an annual, biannual or as-needed basis.
 
Training for new staff, in general, and new staff taking on an IPM Coordinator position
All new staff will be made aware of the school or district's IPM program and their role. New staff that takes on an IPM Coordination responsibility, he/she will be oriented with the program specifications and enrolled for any upcoming IPM related training as provided by USU or the Utah Coalition for IPM in Schools.

Training for kitchen staff
The kitchen, food prep, and eating areas are particularly prone to pest issues. All kitchen staff will be educated on basic IPM principles and practices, how to clean to prevent pests, how to properly store food, and how to recognize common kitchen pests. 
 
Ongoing, general training for students, parents, faculty and staff
IPM Coordinators will be responsible for training & communication. Besides direct communication, IPM informational literature, brochures, newsletters will help in disseminating the awareness and staff cooperation in this team effort. To make parents aware of the IPM program, a letter will be sent once a year as a reminder

General education and training
As pest concerns manifest, education and training will be provided to involved parties as part of an IPM-based pest control strategy.