2007-08 Adopted Plan - Wake County Public School System

Growth Requestsseveral measures, yet the most signifi cant is the daily new interaction allpersons on school grounds have with fi re ants. Even a casual interactioncreates agonizing injury and can cause death. In addition, the NorthCarolina Legislature expects more of our environmental programs andstated its expectations in the “School Children’s Health Act” whose fullrequirements were implemented October 1, 2006. Even though notadopted yet by the School Board, this Act represents a mandated yetunfunded imperative with which WCPSS must comply. Adding and fi llingthese two (2) Positions will:1.Comply with legislative mandate.2.Create a full-time fi re ant control program for grounds andbuildings.3.Enable staff to manage pest control at new schools, year-roundconversion schools, and renovated schools.4.Allow staff to develop a pest management program integrated withsystem personnel and resources.The 2010 goal is creating safe, accessible, and healthful facilityenvironments while increasing citizen/school support. We present thisinitiative as a method for reducing the overall pest control costs, whilemeeting the goals and objectives of the WCPSS.Evidence or Reasoning for This Strategy:IPM has matured from a best management practice to a legislativelymandated program (School Children’s Health Act). The WCPSS was anational leader in IPM years in advance of the 2006 legislative interestand received many awards in recognition of their efforts. The WCPSSlong ago established a modest yet effective Integrated Pest Managementprogram. The program was effective because the pest problems wereroutine and because the program was created to serve the school systemsized at the time of program establishment. The program has functionedat its establishment level since inception even though the square footageof schools it serves has increased by nearly 50 percent with no increasein IPM staffi ng. By implementing a call and rotation system, existing staffnow perform at 130 percent of work output compared to a few yearsago, even while school grounds and building areas subject to pestmanagement continue to increase. The workload has increased to thepoint staff will no longer readily be able to meet previous service levels.The graph below shows in the exponential increase in Maximo WorkOrders for the new problem of fi re ants.4003002001000Maximo Work Orders (Pest Management)Projectionbased on1st quarterof 200603-04 04-05 05-06 06-07That represents a doubling in fi led, offi cial requests each year…a ratethat is now expected to increase faster because that rate is tied to newconstruction (that imports fi re ants), year-round school conversion andbecause the growth rate of pests is exponential.Traditional budgeting assumes a geometric rate of increase. The fl awin budgeting on that assumption shows up when looking at invoicerecords for ant control chemicals. In 2001 no control chemicals werebought. In 2003-04 two bags of chemical were bought. In 2005-06, 172bags were bought. For 2007-08 a justifi cation for nearly 1,500 bags ofchemical is presented. Chemicals by themselves are of no use…eachpound or treatment of chemical requires a licensed IPM technician, avehicle, application equipment, time to apply chemical, meet humancontact and notifi cation requirements, data management devices andrecording time to comply with federal record keeping requirements. Themore time that is spent on fi re ant control, the less time that is availableto spend on all other pest management. This currently forces IPM staffto choose between work that reduces the risk of human injury and workthat reduces unwanted invasions by lesser pests such as cockroaches.Of course, preserving human life and preventing injury must win overcockroach sightings.220