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Safe
and Healthy Schools |
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National Health Schools Day!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Introduction:
Why do we emphasize schools?
[See below for
tools for administrators, educators, and parents]
Excerpted from: Howard
Frumkin's introduction to Safe and Healthy School Environments,
a textbook edited by Frumkin, Geller, and Rubin with Janice
Nodvin. Oxford University Press. Coming in 2006. Ordering
information
- In the United States, more than 48 million
students attend 94,000 public elementary, middle, and secondary
schools each day (Hoffman 2003; Wirt et al. 2004), and an
additional 5.3 million students attend 30,000 private schools
(TAB ED 2005).
- Children spend more time in schools than
in any other environment except their home.
- More than 4.7 million teachers and hundreds
of thousands of administrators, janitors, food service workers,
security guards, and other personnel staff these schools.
- No other category of building can claim to
house one in five Americans every day.
Schools are unique environments in many ways.
In virtually no other settings do people spend extended periods
of time in such close quarters. Few other buildings house
such a wide variety of functions, from education to athletics
to health care to food preparation and even to automobile
repair and chemical processes.
But the most important feature of schools is
that we send our children there to learn—to learn reading
and writing and mathematics and sciences, to learn values
and social skills, to prepare for their futures, to become
all that they can be. It is no exaggeration to say that schools
harbor our collective dreams for the future—they are
the places where values are passed on, technical solutions
originate, and the world of tomorrow is shaped. These high
expectations stand in sharp contrast to the realities of many
school environments. In a nation of gleaming office buildings,
sumptuous gated communities, and luxurious shopping malls,
many of our schools do not measure up.
Research reveals poor condition of many
schools
Research by the U.S. General Accounting Office
in the mid-1990s (GAO 1995, 1996a, 1996b) found that one in
three schools had buildings in need of extensive repair or
replacement, and almost 60 percent reported one major building
feature that needed extensive repairs, an overhaul, or replacement.
In addition, about half of the schools reported at least one
unsatisfactory environmental condition such as poor ventilation,
heating or lighting problems, or poor physical security.
Later research by the U.S. Department of Education
(2000) found similar results. Nearly half of the schools in
this study also reported at least one environmental factor
in unsatisfactory condition: ventilation in 26%, acoustics
or noise control in 18%, indoor air quality in 18%, heating
in 17%, and lighting in 12%. Ongoing research has continued
to corroborate these findings. For example, a recent review
of air quality in schools revealed that inadequate ventilation,
excessive levels of carbon dioxide, volatile organic compounds,
bioaerosols, bacteria, dust mites, and animal allergens are
common (Daisey, Angell, Apte 2003). Conditions such as these
pose both short-term and long-term threats to children’s
health and productivity and may translate into health-care
costs as well.
Courts and the U.S. Congress have recognized
that high-quality learning environments are crucial to educating
children well. One court defined “decent facilities”
as those that are “structurally safe, contain fire safety
measures, sufficient exits, an adequate and safe water supply,
an adequate sewage disposal system, sufficient and sanitary
toilet facilities and plumbing fixtures, adequate storage,
adequate light, [are] in good repair and attractively painted
as well as contain acoustics for noise control” (Pauley
v. Kelly, 1982; Edgewood Independent School District v. Kirby,
1987). In passing the Education Infrastructure Act of 1994
(an Act that was never implemented), Congress recognized that
“improving the quality of public elementary and secondary
schools will help our Nation meet the National Education Goals.”
A Team Approach to Safe and Healthy
Schools
A team approach to safe and healthy school environments
is critical. Administrators, parents, staff, neighbors, students,
health-care providers, and others need to work together. In
particular, people need to collaborate across different professions,
disciplines, and administrative boundaries—cafeteria
personnel and custodians, science teachers, coaches, principals,
and bus drivers. Teachers have a special role: They not only
teach but theyalso model attitudes and behaviors for students.
Teachers can take the lead in promoting safe and healthy school
environments by learning about them, taking steps to prevent
or control hazards, and demonstrating to students the importance
of these initiatives.
We hope this book [and the links below] will
be useful to parents, teachers, school administrators, facility
managers, school board members, health-care providers, and
public health agencies. The commitment to great places for
children—to schools where they can learn, grow, and
thrive in safe and healthy surroundings—is a widely
shared commitment, one that transcends differences in location,
politics, and creed. It is a pledge that can inspire and propel
us all.
See references
Back to top
Tools for Safe
and Healthy Schools
The following resource index draws on topics
that are extensively covered in a new 30-chapter book edited
by the Southeast PEHSU team. We highly recommend that school
administrators consider purchasing a copy:
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Order: Safe
and Healthy School Environments Edited
by Howard Frumkin, Robert Geller, and Leslie Rubin with
Janice Nodvin.
Not Yet Published. Due Aug 04 2006 Ordering
details
This book (496 pages) explores the school environment
using the methods and perspectives of environmental
health science. Its 30 chapters cover all aspects of
the school environment, including air quality, toxic
hazards, food, physical activity, violence, transportation,
disaster preparedness, health services, and program
management, making it the first book to offer such comprehensive
coverage. See chapter titles |
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This FREE software tool is designed
to be customized and used by district-level staff to conduct
completely voluntary self-assessments of their school
(and other) facilities and to track and manage information
on environmental conditions school by school. Link
to Healthy SEAT |
Useful Links:
EPA's
Healthy School Environment Resources webpage
Links
to organizations and agencies
Recommended
Academic Reading (by topic)
General Evaluation Tools:
Controlling Harmful Substances:
Back to top
High-Performance School Buildings:
The Nutrition Environment at School:
Back to top
Violence and Disasters:
Transportation:
Air Quality:
Curriculum:
Back to top
References (from
introduction):
Daisey JM, Angell WJ, Apte MG. 2003. Indoor
air quality, ventilation, and health symptoms in schools:
An analysis of existing information. Indoor Air 13:53–64.
Hoffman L. Overview of public elementary and
secondary schools and districts: School year 2001–2002.
NCES 2003-411. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education,
National Center for Education Statistics, 2003. Available:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2003/overview03/index.asp#a [accessed
November 22, 2005].
Pauley v. Kelly, No. 75-C1268 (Kanawha County
Cir. Ct., WV, May 1982); Edgewood Independent School District
v. Kirby, No. 362, 516 (259th Dist. Ct., Travis Cty., TX,
June 1, 1987), rev. 761 S.W. 2nd 859 (Ct. App. TX, 1988),
rev. 777 S.W. 2nd 391 (1989).
TAB ED. Characteristics of private schools in
the United States: Results from the 2001–2002 Private
School Universe Survey. NCES 2005-305. Washington, DC: U.S.
Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics,
2005. Available: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/2005305.pdf [accessed
November 22, 2005].
U.S. Department of Education, National Center
for Education Statistics. Condition of America’s public
school facilities: 1999. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Education, 2000. Available: http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/frss/publications/2000032/
[accessed November 22, 2005].
U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO). School
facilities: Condition of America’s schools. GAO/HEHS-95-61.
Washington, DC: GAO, 1995. Available: http://www.gao.gov/archive/1995/he95061.pdf
[accessed November 22, 2005].
U.S. General Accounting Office. School facilities:
America’s schools report differing conditions. GAO/HEHS-96-103.
Washington, DC: GAO, 1996a. Available: http://www.gao.gov/archive/1996/he96103.pdf
[accessed November 22, 2005].
U.S. General Accounting Office. School facilities:
Profiles of school conditions by state. GAO/HEHS-96-148. Washington,
DC: GAO, 1996b. Available: http://www.gao.gov/archive/1996/he96148.pdf
[accessed November 22, 2005].
Wirt J, Choy S, Rooney P, Provasnik S, Sen A,
Tobin R. 2004. The condition of education 2004. NCES 2004-077.
Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center
for Education Statistics. Available: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2004/pdf/04_2004.pdf
[accessed 8 April 2005].
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