L.A. District Scraps Plan to Curb Pesticide Spraying on Campuses

Los Angeles Unified School District officials scrapped a proposal Thursday to reduce pesticide spraying on campuses after parents and environmentalists said the plan would fail to halt the use of dangerous chemicals.

The district’s pest control managers will now select a committee of about 10 people to draft a new policy. That group is expected to include district staff, parents, environmental regulators and others.

District officials had drafted the new policy at the urging of parents from Sherman Oaks Elementary School, who began lobbying after a March incident in which they say a gardener accidentally sprayed their children with a pesticide.

The school district disputed the March incident at Sherman Oaks Elementary, saying the gardener was spraying several hundred feet away from arriving children. The proposed policy that grew out of that incident called for the district to stop using chemicals determined to be carcinogens. It also called for the formation of a committee to review the new policy and district practices.

But school board member Julie Korenstein, who had introduced the measure last month, withdrew it Thursday after the activists showed up at a hearing and reiterated their complaints.

The activists said several dangerous pesticides would still be allowed under the new policy. They also questioned whether the oversight committee would have authority to regulate pesticide use.

“We want to come up with the safest plan for our children,” Korenstein said. “At the same time, we don’t want to [allow an] epidemic of rodents.”

Parents and environmentalists were delighted by Korenstein’s decision.

“It is a victory,” said Robina Suwol, who contends that her 6-year-old son was caught in the gardener’s spray in March. “That policy was a self-promoting policy for the district. It was really ludicrous.”

The Sherman Oaks parents and the environmentalists who helped coordinate the campaign against pesticide use expressed concern about having a continued voice in the process, and whether the new committee would have the authority to set policy.

“Somebody’s eyes on the committee need to be on the growing body of evidence that links these pesticides with the adverse health effects,” said Christina Graves, an organizer with nonprofit group Pesticide Watch.

The school district uses nearly 60 pesticides, most of which are not available to the public.

District officials defended their pest control program, saying that they only use pesticides as a last resort--after traps and other measures are exhausted.

The officials said the school district’s pest control program was recognized in 1994 by the state Environmental Protection Agency for its innovative practices.

“We don’t resort to chemicals as a first resort,” Lynn Roberts, director of maintenance and operations for the district, told a school board committee Thursday. “We do believe we are on the forefront of the pesticide issue.”

Still, outside experts challenged the district’s reliance on pesticides.

“We do know that pesticides cause cancer,” Felix Aguilar, a doctor from Harbor-UCLA Family Health Center, told a news conference held by the parents and environmental groups. “It is best to prevent exposure to pesticides. These chemicals simply should not be used in a child’s environment.”