If
your child (or someone else at your school) is especially sensitive to
pesticides, OR if you see pesticides used or misused at your school,
OR if you think you have been exposed to pesticides used on PPS properties,
please send an e-mail message to PPAP at
info@ppaponline.org.
Be sure to give us your name and contact information (including e-mail address), tell us which PPS school is involved, and give details of the situation. Also, let us know if you have informed the school or school district of the situation, or if there are any confidentiality issues we need to know about.
How We'll Use Your Information
We will use the information you provide us to build a database of incidents and information that will help us more effectively lobby the school district for stronger implementation of its pesticide reduction policy. Two members of our steering committee participate on the PPS External IPM Committee that is overseeing development of new pesticide use procedures for the district. Our larger steering committee also makes written comments on proposed new PPS procedures. Reports about how the new policy and procedures are working (or not working) at individual schools will be very valuable to us and to the school district in these early stages of implementation. Also, we frequently hear from the district that few PPS parents or teachers are concerned about pesticides, and that there have been few incidents of human exposure to pesticides used on PPS properties. Information about specific pesticide incidents at PPS schools or special sensitivities of some individuals will help PPAP make the case that pesticide exposures can (or have) occurred, that others in the PPS community are concerned, that some people need special protections, and that stronger policy provisions are needed overall.
Who
Else to Contact (and Why It's Important)
As an all-volunteer group with extremely limited resources, PPAP is not in a position to serve as an advocate for individuals in their dealings with their school or the school district about a particular incident. Also realize that we may not be checking our e-mail every day or even every week. We will do the best we can to use the information you give us to influence PPS pesticide policy. However, we are limited in what we can do on our own. Often our suggestions are overruled by district staff or their contractors who make up the majority of the PPS External IPM Committee.
Thus, it is also important for YOU to report any incidents or individuals with sensitivities directly to your school and to the school district, and to request appropriate action. This will be the best way to ensure that your particular incident or situation is addressed in a timely manner. Your message or call to the school district is also important because it can help correct the district's perception that few people in the PPS community are concerned about pesticides.
Human exposure and pesticide misuse incidents should also be reported to appropriate state agencies. If this is a health emergency, contact your own doctor or local emergency services.