LEWISTON – The Lewiston School System is getting national attention for the way it deals with mice, ants and other pests.

Graduate students from Indiana University will visit Lewiston schools Thursday to get a firsthand look at the system’s integrated pest management program. The pair will spend the day talking with school officials and examining Lewiston schools. They will report their findings to the Environmental Protection Agency, which will use the information to show other schools how to deal with pests.

“Nobody has made a list of these programs before and how they can be used by schools,” said Marc Lame, professor of public and environmental affairs at Indiana University.

Statewide, Lewiston has been lauded for its pest-management program. The former maintenance director’s “think first, spray last” philosophy encouraged school staff to use pesticides only as a last resort. In 2003, the school system piloted a full pest-management program for the state.

Now regarded as a model school system, Lewiston tries first to prevent pests. Workers keep trash bins away from school buildings, added screens to kitchen windows and added weather-stripping to school doors to keep out mice and bugs.

When a pest is spotted in a school, workers clean the area thoroughly to remove any food or water that could be attracting them. If the problem continues, they use traps or gel placed in areas that students couldn’t get to.

When spraying is needed to get rid of wasps or other stinging insects, the school system calls in a professional. It doesn’t allow spraying around children.

“Before we sprayed first. Now we spray last,” said Andy Baillargeon, who coordinates the pest management program for Lewiston.

Indiana University’s graduate students will tour Lewiston schools and will assess the program on Thursday. They will attend a statewide pest management training session for Maine school officials on Friday.

While they will be looking at school systems across the county, Lewiston is the only one they will be touring in New England.