School facilities: organic pesticides: pilot program.

The Healthy Schools Act of 2000 requires that the preferred method of managing pests at schoolsites, as defined, is to use effective, least toxic pest management practices and requires schoolsites to maintain records of all pesticides used at the schoolsite for a period of 4 years. Existing law requires schools to provide all staff and parents or guardians of pupils enrolled at a schoolsite written notification of, among other things, expected pesticide use at that schoolsite. This bill would require the State Department of Education, upon appropriation by the Legislature for these purposes, to establish a 5-year pilot program to provide funding to school districts to use only organic pesticides, both indoors and outdoors, for the purpose of determining the benefits of organic pesticide use and the financial impact on school districts of using organic pesticides instead of chemical pesticides. The bill would authorize certain school districts to apply to participate in the pilot program and would require a participating school district to conduct soil testing, as provided, and to submit reports to the department and the Legislature at the beginning and the end of the pilot program.