OSU School IPM Program: Custodial Training Guide
School IPM Basics
What Is School IPM?
Integrated Pest Management, also known as IPM, is a way of managing pests that focuses on pest
suppression and prevention through a wide variety of tactics. Management strategies include
maintenance to exclude pests, sanitation to reduce food, water, and shelter resources that pests
need, and significant education and communication so that all staff are aware of their role in
reducing pest conducive conditions in their workspace. By addressing the fundamental reasons for
why pests are present, pesticides are rarely needed – when they are, reduced-risk pesticides are
used. This common sense strategy has been shown to reduce both pests AND pesticides in school
environments, resulting in improved conditions for students, staff, and the environment.
Key Elements Of School IPM Include:

Regular inspecting and monitoring – helps detect pests before infestation levels occur, before
the health of students and staff are at risk (for public health pests), or before significant damage
to campus buildings and grounds occurs. Facilities and maintenance staff typically inspect and
monitor, though other staff have the important role of communicating pest issues that they
observe.

Maintenance and exclusion – inspections and monitoring, as well as feedback from staff, may
reveal a point of entry for pests, or a habitat, that can be addressed with maintenance.
Examples include installing or repairing window screens, installing door sweeps, sealing
around pipes at the wall void interface, and installing netting to discourage bird activity. This
work is typically the responsibility of the facilities and maintenance staff.

Improved Sanitation and Food Storage – pests can chew and gnaw their way through most
plastic bags or box materials, and consider a wide variety of items “food.” This includes
unopened bags of snacks, candy bars, boxes of cereal or crackers, and food tucked into a desk or
a locker. Therefore, food storage should always be in a refrigerator, freezer, or in hard
containers with screw-top or snap-tight lids. Good sanitation along wall bases, in corners, and
behind furniture can reduce food crumbs and other items insects and mice feed on. Reduced
clutter – both indoors and outside – inhibits pests, and also allows for better sanitation by
facilities staff. Many pest problems can be prevented with good sanitation.

Behavioral changes – some habits may be pest conducive, such as propping open doors or
consuming food and beverages throughout the school as opposed to designated areas. Small
changes in behavior, however, can have big impacts on pest reduction.

Communication and Education – IPM is a process that begins with communicating and
education. It takes time, resources, and the support of school administrators. The best facilities
and maintenance staff in the world cannot make up for a lack of communication and education
with all school staff as to everyone’s role and the rules.

Pesticides – OSU has created a low-impact pesticide list for Oregon schools to use (required by
law). As per the Oregon school IPM law, this list includes only products with the “caution”
signal word, and which are not classified as a human carcinogen or probably/likely to be a
carcinogenic to humans. This can be found on the OSU School IPM Program website, along with
more information about school IPM and how to implement it.
This document was created with funding support from the USDA/NIFA E-IPM grant program
J. Snyder