Superintendent Urges Schools to Turn Up the Heat on Pests

County schools Supt. Charles Weis on Wednesday recommended schools throughout Ventura County consider using a pesticide-free technique for ridding campus buildings of termites and other insects.

Many schools spray fumigants when children are on breaks to remove termites. Or they put off pest control altogether because of possible safety risks for students.

But a heat-based technique, which sprays streams of hot air into a tented classroom, is a nontoxic alternative and should get a closer look, Weis said.

“With 190 schools in this county they all need to fumigate from time to time, but it is most important to keep pesticides away from students,” Weis said at a news conference at Camarillo Airport. “This process, basically a form of pasteurization, means the youngsters are not exposed to anything toxic.”

The procedure, which takes a full day and costs about the same as using pesticides, kills termites, lice, mold, fungus and other pests with air heated to 150 degrees. The sauna-like conditions kill pests in a matter of minutes.

There are about 20 companies in California licensed to use such heat treatments. One company, Precision Works in Camarillo, promised Weis it would provide any Ventura County school a lower rate than it would receive using pesticides.

To prove the process works, David Hedman, chairman of Precision Works, offered to demonstrate on the county’s most infested classroom.

An auto shop classroom at the Regional Occupational Program, a school at the airport that focuses on job skills programs, was chosen for its ubiquitous termite infestation and large number of bird droppings, which has caused bacteria growth.

On Wednesday morning, the 2,500-square-foot classroom was completely covered by a yellow-and-blue tent and several large tubes pumped in hot air.

To monitor the temperature, which is slowly raised over three hours, a hand-held laser gun with a thermometer beams a narrow ray of red light onto a wall to register the interior temperature.

It would have cost about $2,000 to sanitize a classroom that size, which is comparable to the cost of using chemicals, Hedman said.

Gary Nottingham, director of maintenance and operations at Simi Valley Unified School District, said he has heard about the technique and it sounds appealing. His district tented a classroom and used chemicals to remove pests about four years ago.

“Anything that cuts down on chemicals around children is good and should be used,” he said.

Nottingham said he has termites in his home and intends to use such a hot-air process to gauge its effectiveness.

Sean Corrigan, director of planning and facilities for Conejo Valley Unified, said the district has used both chemical and hot air methods in the past year and that neither has been 100% successful.

“One advantage of poisonous gas is that gas can kill termites in the soil and heat doesn’t seem to work as well at that,” he said. “We are experimenting, trying [hot air] here and there. It’s one more tool in the toolbox.”

Richard Duarte, superintendent for Oxnard’s elementary schools, said district facilities suffer from the same pest problems as any residence--ants, cockroaches and termites.

“If the heat is a viable option, we would consider it and make sure the impacts are not negative to other parts of operations,” Duarte said, adding that certain electric devices and computers could be adversely affected by heat.

Hedman said electronic equipment is surrounded by insulated plastic blankets to keep their temperature down.

Assemblyman Tony Strickland, (R-Thousand Oaks), who attended the news conference, said he supports using the procedure at all California schools.

“One of the essential roles of government is public safety and parents deserve to have peace of mind when they send their kids to school,” he said. “This makes sense.”