Stop Poisoning Schools

In a perfect world, schools full of vulnerable children would never stand right next to fields full of toxic pesticides. But in California, that hazardous situation is increasingly common--and increasingly worrisome.

Conflicts are growing up and down the state as development expands into long-established farming areas and the use of toxic pesticides increases each year.

The magnitude of the problem was dramatized last month when a study by the Washington-based Environmental Working Group revealed that students at hundreds of California schools could be exposed to dangerous levels of pesticides, in particular methyl bromide. Eight of the 25 schools found to be most heavily exposed are in the Oxnard area.

The Times on May 3 reported on health problems experienced by teachers in Oxnard’s Rio School District, which includes four of the schools singled out by the EWG report as most at risk. The Times story described incidents in which teachers believe they were made ill by pesticides and students were driven from playgrounds by drifting fumes. School administrators there say they receive few complaints; teachers say they rarely file them because it does little good.

Amid a cross-fire of conflicting opinions, two points are clear: First, our children and the people who teach them must not be subjected to pesticide poisoning. And second, only vigorous reporting and investigation of complaints can tell us where our current policies of protection are not working.

With dozens of Ventura County schools located near active farms, and few other places to put new ones, there is no choice but to find safe ways to coexist. Many sites in Ventura County show this can be done if everyone takes an extra step or two:

* Farmers must abide by legally mandated regulations and add their own extra measure of caution and common sense--to notify nearby schools of planned pesticide use, to postpone spraying on windy days and to avoid applying toxic chemicals when campuses are in use.

* School district leaders must step up their vigilance against this now-documented threat. All health complaints from teachers and students should get a closer look and routinely should be forwarded to the county agriculture commissioner and the state Department of Pesticide Regulations. Administrators must be every bit as alert to protect their students and teachers from chemical hazards as they are to protect them from weapons or other dangers.

* Teachers must take the lead in documenting and reporting suspected pesticide exposure. Only by recording the dates, duration and severity of incidents, and calling that information to the attention of the agriculture commissioner and other officials, can the chronic offenders be picked out from the majority of farmers who use the substances safely.

* Armed with that information, the ag commissioner and state officials must use their authority to enforce regulations and seek creative ways for farms and schools to coexist.

Why should all these people take all these extra steps? There have been calls for stiffer regulations and threats of lawsuits. But protecting the health of our children and their teachers is reason enough.