Healthy Schools Act

The California Healthy Schools Act requires school districts to implement and abide by an Integrated Pest Management plan, defined as “a pest management strategy that focuses on long-term prevention or suppression of pest problems through a combination of techniques such as monitoring for pest presence and establishing treatment threshold levels, using non-chemical practices to make the habitat less conducive to pest development, improving sanitation, and using mechanical and physical controls”. All pesticide usage must be accompanied by notification to registered subscribers, warning signs posted at all areas that are to be treated, and the capability to provide up to four years of pesticide usage upon request.

Compliant IPM plans

  • List all EPA pesticides, herbicides, and disinfectants that your district uses
  • Exclude prohibited pesticides, herbicides, and disinfectants
  • Post HSA compliant warning signs before pesticide and herbicide applications at least 24 hours in advance, and leave them posted for at least 72 hours after application
  • Send explicit notifications of all pesticide and herbicide applications to registered parents and staff 72 hours before application
  • Track DPR approved training on pesticide, herbicide, and disinfectant use for staff
  • Accurately keep four years of pesticide and herbicide usage records and provide them in response to public information requests
  • Annually report pesticide and herbicide usage to the Department of Pesticide Regulation
    IPM Codex Diagram all the functions

    Features

    The tools IPM Codex brings to school districts save time and money.

    Powerful workflow monitoring

    The built-in automation of IPM Codex requires that it have an intelligent understanding of the pest control workflow. By managing this workflow and recording important events in the pest control process, IPM Codex helps establish a strong history of good IPM practices and keeps a centralized repository of data for work being conducted in district facilities regardless of geographic or operational distance.

    Automated Posting & Notifications

    Notifying facilities and registered parties of pending pesticide applications necessarily involves a number of people across a variety of departments. By automating both posting creation and notification delivery, personnel and resources are freed up from document creation and distribution, as well as managing lists of registered subscribers and delivering notifications on a set schedule. Responsibility for these tasks can be centralized, and the automated operations are easily supervised by the IPM Coordinator.

    Easy, accurate recordkeeping

    By utilizing a durable cloud-based database and an easy-to-use interface, IPM Codex allows inexpensive and reliable long-term storage of all IPM historical records. In addition, flexible reporting allows data to be retrieved in any format needed. IPM Codex gives school districts the opportunity to keep accurate records as a simple by-product of using it as intended to maintain compliance with the Healthy Schools Act.

     

    Benefits

    IPM Codex helps school districts manage their IPM programs effectively and efficiently.

    Eliminate paperwork

    IPM Codex generates documents electronically. All notifications, postings, and reports are saved online in PDF form. Nothing gets lost or destroyed, and the paperwork takes up no physical space. If a document is needed, it can be found easily and quickly, and rendered in electronic or printed form.

    Reduce your workload

    By automating document creation, reporting, and record retrieval, IPM Codex eliminates the inevitable workload spikes that occur on a regular monthly and yearly basis, as well as the unexpected requests for records that can occur as a result of the Healthy Schools Act and the Public Records Act. In addition, by streamlining the notification and notification registration process, necessary pesticide applications don’t result in unnecessary work.

    Ensure compliance

    The California Healthy Schools Act is not simple, and changes often. IPM Codex and Three Hill Path Incorporated work to ensure that all facets of the HSA related to pest management are accounted for. IPM Codex helps to stay current with changes to the law, and helps to insure that all reporting and compliance is accounted for.

     

    IPM Codex Diagram all the functions

    HSA Compliance Made Easy

     

    • IPM Codex is able to record all IPM practices and maintain the records forever, we do not delete any job records.
    • IPM Codex sends out all notifications to subscribers automatically when there is a new pesticide use entered into the system. This means the parents are notified, and we reset it every year, so they are not notified after their students have moved schools.
    • IPM Codex keeps records of all facilities where and when pesticides were used.
    • IPM Codex keeps records for all personal and volunteers training status.
    • IPM Codex is a centralized location for Pesticide and Material data
    • IPM Codex automatically generates and distributes postings for pesticide uses.
    • IPM Codex generates your Annual Report on all the data entered at the end of the year so you do not have to search high and low for old signs or work orders!
    DPR Infogrpah
    Demo IPM Codex Here!

    Resources

    Here are some resources that may be useful in your IPM program administration from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation.

     

    Frequently Asked Questions

    What is a pesticide?

    Under state and federal law, a pesticide is any substance that controls, destroys, repels, or attracts a pest.

    What is a pest?

    A pest is any living organism, including insects, plants, fungus, rodents, bacteria, birds, algae, or the like, that is unwanted.

    Does that mean that weed killer and disinfectant sprays are a pesticides?

    Yes, it does. So are bleach, fungicides, and even disinfectant or sanitizing wipes. In the definition of “pesticide”, ALL life is considered, including bacteria and fungus, not just insects or animals.

    What about hand sanitizer and antibacterial soap?

    These are exceptions, as any substance intended to be applied to the human body is exempt from the classification.

    What is the Healthy Schools Act (HSA)?

    The Healthy Schools Act of 2000 (Assembly Bill 2260) put into place the right-to-know requirements such as notification, posting, and recordkeeping for pesticides used at public schools and public child day care facilities. The legislation also put into law the Department of Pesticide Regulation’s (DPR) existing School IPM Program and requirements for reporting pesticide use.

    The Healthy Schools Act was amended in 2005 to prohibit the use of certain pesticides at schools and public child day care facilities that have conditional, experimental use, or interim registrations or have been canceled, suspended, or phased out. The law was amended again in 2006 to include private child day care facilities (except for family day care homes). For more information, including a copy of the laws, go to DPR’s School IPM Web site: www.cdpr.ca.gov/schoolipm.

    The Health Schools Act was amended again in 2014 to require annual reporting of pesticide usage, require training of any person that may apply pesticide at a school or child care facility, and remove the requirement that the state reimburse local agencies or school districts for costs incurred by compliance with the Healthy Schools Act.

    Who is responsible for enforcing requirements of the HSA?

    According to the Healthy Schools Act FAQ question 4-1, because the HSA contains no specific enforcement for the requirements and it falls under the Education Code, the school district superintendent and the district’s elected school board members are responsible for enforcement. A school district’s legal counsel should be consulted for specifics.

    What is required for HSA compliance?

    As of July 1, 2016, nine factors are required for HSA compliance:

    • An IPM Coordinator
    • Avoiding prohibited materials
    • A posted IPM Plan
    • A list of pesticides used by the district
    • Notification of upcoming and emergency pesticide usage to registered individuals
    • Posted warning signs around all treatment areas where pesticides will be applied in the next 24 hours, or have been applied in the last 72 hours
    • Maintenance of four years of pesticide usage records
    • Reporting of pesticide usage to the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR)
    • DPR approved IPM training of all personnel who utilize any pesticide products

    Does this mean that people who use disinfectant wipes need to participate in DPR training?

    Yes. School districts are responsible for insuring that anyone who will utilize any pesticide product receive appropriate DPR approved training.

    How often?

    DPR approved training certificates are valid for one year.

    What does “anyone” mean?

    According to the 2016 yearly address from the Director of the DPR, Brian R. Leahy, “EVERYONE working at schools and daycare centers who uses any pesticide product” with the additional statement that “this means volunteers and teachers’ aides, as well as janitors, groundskeepers, or pest control applicators hired by the school.”

    You can find the document with this information at the DPR’s website, linked below.

    Does this mean that people who won’t use pesticides don’t need to be trained?

    Technically, yes. However, this leaves a great deal up to chance. If an untrained person uses a pesticide, the school district, not the person using the pesticide, is responsible for the infraction, and could face a fine of up to $5,000 from the DPR, as the school district is required to provide the training.

    Recommended best practice is that anyone spending significant time working on school grounds should take the training course, whether or not they intend to use pesticides at any time. Without the training, they can’t know that they’re in violation, and that responsibility falls to the school district.

    What law details this requirement?

    Education Code Section 17614(a):

    Commencing July 1, 2016, and except as provided in subdivision (b), the school designee, and any person, including, but not necessarily limited to, a schoolsite or school district employee, who, in the course of his or her work, intends to apply a pesticide at a schoolsite subject to this article, shall annually complete a training course provided by the Department of Pesticide Regulation or an agent authorized by the Department of Pesticide Regulation. The training course shall include integrated pest management and the safe use of pesticides in relation to the unique nature of schoolsites and children’s health.

    Can IPM Codex help keep track of who is trained?

    IPM Codex will help track who is trained, keep you informed of who needs to be trained soon, and alerts you to who does not have a currently valid certification.