Earlier this month, the Lake Washington School District (LWSD) was honored at a Washington School Integrated Pest Management (IPM) event at the University of Washington Center for Urban Horticulture in Seattle.

The honor was to recognize the district’s use of alternate, non-chemical pest control methods as the first approach to solve a pest issue on school grounds.

LWSD was one of four school districts in Washington recognized as IPM Star Certified by Washington State University Urban IPM & Pesticide Safety Education. The other three districts are Federal Way School District, Kelso School District and Mukilteo School District. There are currently only 12 school districts in the state that have achieved this certification.

LWSD earned this certification after passing a rigorous 37-point inspection conducted by the independent nonprofit IPM Institute of North America.

Jon Kollman, maintenance field supervisor and IPM coordinator for LWSD, is most proud of the district’s herbicide-free school program.

“Schools take an active role in managing their site vegetation without the use of herbicides,” said Kollman.

IPM is a common-sense approach to solving pest problems with minimum pesticide usage. This approach requires schools to prevent the conditions that encourage pests. IPM involves close inspection and monitoring of structures and facilities for conditions conducive to pests. This means sealing cracks, crevices and avenues of entry for pests to keep them out of buildings. Potential food sources for pests are sealed away or eliminated as well. Pesticides are used only when reasonable, non-chemical methods do not provide adequate control and then only via least-risk products and formulations.