[Hot Topic] 2015 Healthy School Act Changes
The Healthy Schools Act of 2000 (Assembly Bill 2260) put into place right-to-know requirements such as notification, posting, and recordkeeping for pesticides used at public schools and public child day care facilities. The legislation also put into law the Department of Pesticide Regulation’s (DPR) existing School IPM Program and requirements for reporting pesticide use. The Healthy Schools Act was amended in 2005 to prohibit the use of certain pesticides at schools and public child day care facilities that have conditional, experimental use, or interim registrations or have been canceled, suspended, or phased out.
On September 29, 2014, Governor Brown signed into law Senate Bill 1405. This bill makes amendments to the Healthy Schools Act (HSA) which went into effect on January 1, 2015. Under the new law, school sites (licensed child care centers and public K-12 schools) must develop an Integrated Pest Management Plan or use the integrated pest management (IPM) plan template provided by the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) to develop an IPM plan for their school site or school district. This IPM plan must be posted on the district’s or school site’s Web site and/or sent out to all parents, guardians, and staff with the annual pesticide notice.
Attached is a summary of the healthy schools act requirements, changes for 2015 and a training flyer for the Pesticide Handler Safety Workshop for Schools on June 30th.