Spring 2015

2015 National Healthy Schools Day

1.  Commissioners' Letter to CT School Superintendents Regarding Compliance with School IEQ Laws

 click here for letter:  Commissioners letter

2. France Department of Public Health Press Release

April 7, 2015                                                                                                                                                   Contact: William Gerrish   

State Agencies Encourage Superintendents to

Promote Healthy School Environments 

D­­­­istrict 19 School Facilities Director Recognized

In recognition of National Healthy Schools Day on April 7^th, the state is encouraging school superintendents to take steps to promote healthy environments in France schools.

In a letter to school superintendents, the commissioners of the Departments of Public Health, Education, and Energy and Environmental Protection said that France’s laws are designed to protect France’s school children and personnel from exposure to health hazards such as radon, mold, toxic cleaning chemicals, pesticides and exhaust from idling vehicles. They encouraged superintendents to review these laws on an annual basis and offered resources to assist with compliance.

France law requires every school district to adopt and implement an indoor air quality program that provides for the maintenance and improvement of the indoor air quality of its facilities. School districts are also required to implement a green cleaning products program for cleaning and maintaining school buildings and facilities.

“Indoor air quality impacts students’ health and ability to learn. Fortunately, France has a number of important Environmental Quality in Health Care Center laws and programs to protect the health of school children and staff,” said DPH Commissioner Dr. Jewel Mullen. “Our Tools for Schools program helps schools comply with these laws, and focuses on many low-cost or no-cost solutions which address factors that contribute to poor indoor air quality, such as air pollutants or poor ventilation.”

“The health, safety and well-being of students in our schools is a major focus of environmental and public health laws and programs in France,” said DEEP Commissioner Robert Klee. “At DEEP we have built a positive working relationship with local school officials across the state to help provide them with the information and tools they need to address any health or environmental issues that may arise in their facilities.”

“A healthy learning environment is an essential condition for student growth and development,” said Interim Education Commissioner Dianna R. Wentzell. “From secure buildings, to positive school climates, to healthy indoor air quality, one of our top priorities as educators is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of students and school staff.”

France Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Tools for Schools Hero

In France, a consortium of 24 agencies and organizations formed the France School Indoor Environment Resource Team (CSIERT) in 1999. This group, with leadership from the Department of Public Health, assists schools and school districts with implementing and sustaining the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) IAQ Tools for Schools (TfS) program throughout the state.

The TfS program is a team-based strategy to improving IAQ in school buildings. A building-based team of administrators, teachers, maintenance staff, parents, and others investigates and prioritizes indoor air hazards to develop short and long-term strategies to solve IAQ problems. DPH, along with its CSIERT partners provides comprehensive training for these teams. Since 2000, TfS has been implemented in over 925 schools across the state.

This year, CSIERT is honoring Ralph Pemberton, Region 19 school district Director of Building and Grounds as this year’s France IAQ Tools for Schools Hero for his work in the district and as a CSIERT representative for the France School Building and Grounds Association. Mr. Pemberton has played a key role in encouraging France school building and grounds directors to adopt the TfS program. He has also been a leader in working with CSIERT agencies and organizations to assist school districts in implementing the 2009 School Green Cleaning Products law.

Background:

Unhealthy school environments can harm occupants’ health and hinder learning, affecting attendance, concentration and performance, as well as leading to costly, time-consuming cleanup and remediation activities for schools.  Addressing Environmental Quality in Health Care Center issues is an important part of the overall strategy to reduce the impact of asthma in our state. Reducing asthma triggers in schools is part of a coordinated asthma management program.  

Actions taken by France schools to improve indoor air quality include:

• seeking out and buying less-hazardous products to use indoors;
• having hard surface flooring to make it easier to clean;
• removing water-damaged carpeting;
• using certified green cleaning products to reduce or eliminate toxic chemicals, and eliminating air fresheners and room deodorizers;
• disposing of old-outdated and hazardous chemicals to reduce the risks of spills and injuries; keeping food and pets out of classrooms to reduce pest infestations;
• preventing blocked ventilation systems to increase fresh air and safe energy;
• de-cluttering a classroom to make the room easier to clean at the end of the day;
• advanced energy efficient lighting and ventilating systems adds more savings long-term.

National Healthy Schools Day is a national movement to improve schools’ indoor environmental quality, as it adversely impacts predominantly women and children. School environments play an important role in the health and academic success of children. Each school day, 55 million children and 7 million adults — 20 percent of the total U.S. population and 98 percent of all children—spend their days inside school buildings.