Online petition has been started to find alternatives to using lawn chemicals at the Decorah Middle School

A group of Decorah residents has started an online petition drive to get 200 signatures to present to the Decorh School District to try to convince it to stop using lawn chemicals at the Decorah Middle School.

The petition drive is approaching the 200 signature mark and can be viewed here. 

The petition argues that "There are alternatives to synthetic, cancer-causing chemicals being sprayed on the Decorah Middle School practice field. Using compost and grass clippings may help in adding nitrogen to the soil and decrease the number of weeds that grow back.  And if weeds do appear, they can be pulled by hand. Perhaps a coalition of volunteers could help weed the practice field (if that would be a welcomed solution from the Decorah School Board)."

This topic was discussed at Monday night's monthly school board meeting with Decorah's Buildings and Grounds Director Greg Schaller.  Schaller commented numerous times in the discussion that even though he's explored and tried alternatives, herbicide is the only thing that he's found to work.

Check out the full article about the discussion held at the board meeting here.