AgriLife Extension state pesticide safety coordinator Don Renchie, Ph.D., leads school IPM training in an industrial school kitchen.
As August rolls into September remember to remind your teachers and staff about their role in the IPM program. You can send out emails reminding them about food in the classroom, how to submit a pest complaint or use one of our posters to educate them about their role in the IPM program.
School IPM Coordinators must receive their 6-hour school IPM coordinator training within 6 months of being appointed by the Superintendent. Those that have been IPM coordinators for more than three years, must receive 6 hours of structural pest control CEU credit, with 1 of those credits as a school IPM refresher topic. If you are the IPM Coordinator and noncommercial certified applicator for the school district, you can earn your annual 5 CEU credits and then take our online school IPM refresher course ENTO-CO-012. Remember online (on demand) courses like these are good every other year per TDA/SPCS rules for CEU credit.
If you are looking for a school IPM coordinator training course our AgriLife Extension team will be hosting these two-day events at:
Katy ISD: Gerald D. Young Agricultural Sciences Center, 5801 Katy Hockley Cut Off Rd, Katy, TX 77493 September 10 & 11, 2025
Corpus Christi ISD: CCISD Instructional Resource Center, 4321 Prescott Street, Corpus Christi, TX 78416 October 15 & 16, 2025
Cost is $260 for both days, $160 for one day and class time is 8:30 am to 5:00 pm with an hour for lunch. To register for one of these courses visit our conference services website at https://agriliferegister.tamu.edu/website/54443/ use search term IPM
If your district or business needs to train employees for their pesticide applicator licenses. Our AG & Environmental Safety group are offering the following courses:
General Standards Technician Training (The 8-hour class EVERY applicator should take)
- August 20th (Humble)
- September 3rd (Virtual)
- September 17th (Austin)
20-hour General Standards Apprentice Training (Great course for employees who work for cities, parks, schools, or other small businesses that want employees to have a good foundation in structural pest control.)
- September 23rd-25th (Bryan)
8-hour Structural Pest Category Training (Course helps you learn what is needed for the Pest Category exam)
- August 19th (Humble)
- September 26th (Bryan)
Landscape Maintenance Category Training (Course helps you learn what is needed for the AG or Structural lawn and ornamental work.)
- August 27th (Fort Worth)
- September 17th (Humble)
To register for one of these courses visit our conference services website https://agriliferegister.tamu.edu/website/54443/ use pesticide for search term. Each course comes with study materials as such costs may vary depending on which course is selected. For more information you can also call 979-845-1099 for more information.
Finally, August 20, 2025, is World Mosquito Day. As such here are some reminders about mosquitoes and school campuses.
Mosquitoes are of concern in the school environment because many species are painful biters and/or are capable of transmitting diseases. In the United States, the threat of developing encephalitis from mosquitoes is far greater than the threat from other mosquito vectored diseases. Encephalitis, meningitis, and other diseases can develop from the bites of mosquitoes infected with certain viruses such as West Nile, St. Louis encephalitis, LaCrosse (California) encephalitis, and Eastern equine and Western equine encephalitis. An effective control program will not eliminate all mosquitoes but will keep the population at a reasonable level and will reduce both nuisances and the risk for mosquito-borne diseases. With human cases on the rise this summer, our best defense is knowledge of the virus and mosquito management.
The best way to prevent West Nile Virus is to minimize the number of mosquitoes since that is the only way the virus moves from bird host to human in nature. Generally, the easiest way to deal with mosquito pests is to prevent them from breeding around us in the first place, and this is quite easy.
Mosquitoes need wet conditions to lay their eggs and grow from an aquatic larva into a flying adult a poor irrigation system can contribute to encourage breeding sites. HUMANS create most of the wet conditions used by mosquitoes in our state, and it is likely that many of us have mosquitoes developing in our neighborhoods and own backyards. We cannot eradicate every individual mosquito, but there are some very simple steps each of us can take to keep numbers low.
The most important single thing a school district can do is make sure school grounds are not contributing to your local mosquito populations. Check water catchment basins, storm drains, low areas, and equipment storage yards, athletic and playground equipment, especially, for places where water might be caught and held. Drain or treat with Bti dunks, or Altosid granules–both Green category insecticides.
Mosquitoes typically rest in vegetation or other shaded sites during the day. If you have areas of vegetation or doorways where mosquitoes are a noticeable problem, consider treating such sites with a residual pyrethroid spray. This would be a Yellow category treatment and should be limited to known problem areas. Insecticides like deltamethrin, cyfluthrin, bifenthrin, and lambda-cyhalothrin can provide up to six weeks control on vegetation or building surfaces. They can be applied via hand-held pump sprayer, backpack mist blower, or power sprayer to doorways and trees, shrubs and ornamental grass around buildings and entryways. Do not allow students or staff into treated areas until sprays have thoroughly dried. Remember students cannot enter an area that has been treated with a Yellow Category product for 4 hours.
If the city or your district wants to apply ULV insecticides for pretreating sporting venues, posting and notification requirements must be followed and Yellow category justifications filed, as with any use of Yellow category product. ULV treatments usually use synergized pyrethrins (Green for products with less than 5% piperonyl butoxide), resmethrin or permethrin (Yellow). Mosquito control with such sprays is short-lived (few hours to a day) and should be conducted only when wind is less than 5-10 mph.
When it comes to IPM for mosquitoes, don’t forget to educate students, parents, and staff. The district should consider notifying parents and students advising them to wear repellent to school or evening sporting events. Use of repellents on school grounds is something each school district must decide on. Personal use of repellents is not prohibited or really addressed by state school IPM regulations; however, they are addressed through the Department of State Health Services who considers repellents as part of an over-the-counter medication. If you haven’t done so, visit your district’s head nurse to make sure she/he is aware of your IPM program and the efforts you, your staff and your pest control contractor are doing everything they can do to help prevent mosquitoes. The Texas Department of State Health Services and many local mosquito control authorities have useful educational fliers and websites (see below) that parents should be aware of. School districts have a useful role to play in getting mosquito awareness information out to our communities. Consider linking this information to your school district’s website.
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