LPS 4th visit

On Monday we completed our 4th visit to our LPS demonstration school. It was spring break so very quiet! After a short meeting, the head custodian led us to the kitchen and other locations listed on our recommendations sheet.

The kitchen was greatly improved from past visits. There were two "hot spot" locations where we still saw evidence of cockroaches...near the "cooking" areas and near some back wall sinks. We told the custodian to place more sticky traps in those areas, and to deep clean under appliances. He noted that the drains had been cleaned since last time, which is very important in reducing food and water sources.

Stephen Vantassel made note of some things in the courtyards (one behind the kitchen and two student courtyards) and the perimeter. The main issues in these area were drainage problems (slopes going toward the building), and holes or gaps (under eaves and in the walls) that are big enough to allow insects and mice to enter.

We also visited the home ec and boiler rooms, which still had evidence of brown recluse spiders. We advised the custodian and PMP to continue to monitor in these areas.

The custodial closets looked good...pesticide was removed or in locked cabinets and mops were hung.

Overall, the school is doing very well, and the custodian informed me the next day that he'd already put in work orders to fix some of the things we had noticed! So LPS is well on it's way to IPM implementation!

My next blog will talk about our two day film shoot at this same school. We are doing an "IPM Process" video that highlights the things we do during these demonstration visits. Dramatized by actors, this video can be distributed to Nebraska Schools and nationally to show what steps are involved in implementing an IPM program.