SCHOOL'S ALTERNATIVE BUG KILLERS LAUDED; LOCAL SCHOOL KEEPS PESTS, ALLERGIES IN CHECK.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

A recent report criticized California public schools for exposing children to toxic and cancer-causing pesticides, but one local school employs a chemical-free approach to controlling pests and weeds.

Pinetree Elementary School was the first in the Sulphur Springs School District to use alternative methods to kill bugs and weeds on the school grounds and in the classrooms. ``At Pinetree, we've had no commercial pesticide applications for four years,'' said Theresa Tye, whose three sons attend the school.

In a report issued last week, ``Failing Health: Pesticide Use in California Schools,'' a consumer advocacy organization found that 70 percent of the 46 districts they surveyed used substances suspected of being carcinogenic at their schools.

The California Public Interest Research Group also reported that 52 percent of those schools used pesticides that cause birth defects or impair normal physical and mental development.

The school districts surveyed included a cross-section of urban, rural and suburban systems, large and small, across the state. Although California has 999 public school districts, the 46 CALPIRG surveyed - including Los Angeles Unified, Glendale Unified, Conejo Valley Unified and Ventura Unified - account for one-fourth of the public school enrollment in California.

Citing the California Public Records Act, CALPIRG collected documents about the sort of chemicals used on school grounds. ``It's a big job and one that the average parent won't have the time for, and probably won't have the clout for,'' said Sandra Marquardt, a pesticide specialist for CALPIRG.

``We found that the pesticides were being used everywhere, from school buses to the cafeterias, gyms and locker rooms, athletic fields and lawns,'' Marquardt said. ``Some pesticides can persist up to a year after they have been sprayed.''

Tye said discontinuing the use of pesticides has eased the bug and critter problem at Pinetree, not made infestations worse. ``I would say we have less of a pest problem than we did when we were spraying regularly,'' she said.

Tye said she and her family have been sensitive to all sorts of chemicals since their prolonged exposure to pesticides that were sprayed in their house several years ago. That exposure, she said, compromised their immune systems and left them sensitive to chemicals, cleaning agents, fragrances and pesticides.

Oldest son Kenny, 11, has asthma and allergies that are aggravated when he comes into contact with pesticides, and his condition forced the family to have him home-tutored for half his kindergarten year and all of first grade, she said.

During that time, Tye worked with school and district officials to find nontoxic ways to control pests and weeds at Pinetree so that Kenny and his younger brothers Matt and Erik, now 9 and 7, could eventually attend school there, too.

Measures were implemented; Kenny returned to Pinetree in second grade and has been there ever since. He's now a fifth-grader.

Tye said the school's maintenance department now orders pesticide and herbicide supplies from catalogs that sell organic farming products. ``If they have to use anything stronger, they send a notice out'' to Pinetree parents, she said.

The school's methods combine ingenuity and common sense, with an emphasis on preventive measures, Tye said.

Everybody is more careful not to leave food out in the classroom and to clean up all spills or crumbs to keep ants away. Plastic liners are put in all the trash cans.

To keep weeds from growing, flower beds are dug up, a plastic tarp is placed in the dirt to act as a barrier, and a layer of soil is placed over that, Tye said.

``We also researched what type of plants to put in to keep weeds and bugs away,'' she said, citing flowering garlic as one example that keeps insects away.

``Sometimes it means cementing in a problem area or laying sod,'' Tye said. ``Some of (the weed and pest problems) were due to poor landscape planning to begin with.''

Other measures include caulking cracks in building walls to prevent pests from nesting or entering there, and repairing leaky pipes that attract ants and bugs searching for a water source during hot weather. Yellowjacket traps hang in the school's trees, Tye added.

As a result of the changes at school, Tye said her children have been healthy. ``When you're exposed to even small amounts of chemicals on a daily basis, your body can tolerate it, but it's taxing your immune system,'' she said.

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Photo

PHOTO (Color) Canyon Country resident Theresa Tye has sons who suffer from asthma and allergies. They are, from left, Matt, 9, Erik, 7, and Kenny, 11.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News