Board staff recommends district-level IPM coordinator, committee sends integrated pest management policy to full board

The RSU 40/MSAD 40 policy committee reviewed an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) draft and voted to send it to the full board for first reading after staff recommended clarifying roles and requiring state certification for contractors. Speaker 6 summarized suggested edits from Brian Race: the superintendent or designee should appoint an IPM coordinator for the district rather than one for every school, and the district should contract with a state of Maine certified pest management company for pesticide applications.

Members asked whether the facilities director, custodians, or outside contractors would carry out work; Speaker 6 said the facilities director would act as the coordinating person and custodians would be queued or supported but not expected to be applicators. "The IPM coordinator will act as the lead person in implementing the school's IPM policy," Speaker 6 said, adding the district should hire a certified company for technical application work.

Speaker 10 moved (with suggested edits per Brian Race) to send the IPM policy to the full board for first read; the motion was seconded and carried unanimously, 7-0. The committee requested staff adjust language to specify the superintendent/designee appointment and the certification requirement before the policy advances.