August, 2007

Healthy Environments in Connecticut Schools
Poor indoor air quality in schools is a major public health issue both nationally and in Connecticut. The CT DPH has been working closely with other agencies and organization to address this problem. One important strategy has been to encourage schools to implement the CT Environmental Protection Agency's Tools for Schools program.

October, 2004

Connecticut PTA and ConnFESS announce a Parent Advocacy Checklist for parents to follow when concerned about possible indoor air quality problems in their school.

Developed by the Connecticut Foundation for Environmentally Safe Schools (ConnFESS), the Parent Advocacy Checklist makes use of several state laws that give important rights to parents:

If you have difficulty obtaining a copy of your school’s IAQ plan and you are a PTA member, call the Connecticut PTA office in Hamden at (203) 281-6617 for assistance. All others should contact ConnFESS at (203) 426-2954 for further assistance.

ConnFESS is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting policies, practices, and resources that protect school occupants from environmental health hazards.

Other Helpful Links:

August, 2003

Conference on Indoor Air Quality Presented by the Indoor Air Quality Coalition

CT PTA is an active member of the Indoor Air Quality Coalition. The coalition members designed a Conference on Indoor Air Quality for all members of the school community including parents, to better understand the new law that was passed on this issue.

Healthy Environments in Connecticut’s Schools - Addressing Environmental Health and Safety Issues will be held October 24, 2003, at the Hastings Hotel in Hartford. Registration deadline is October 3.

Conference attendees will learn about the many aspects of the indoor environment, find out how EPA’s Tools for Schools can help, and examine Connecticut’s new law. There will be offerings for beginners, facilities’ personnel, as well as advanced topics. Parents may attend any workshop of interest, but Workshops "A" in all three sessions may be of particular interest to parents.

The New Law

Poor indoor air quality has very serious consequences for the health of our children. In the upcoming legislative session we will most likely see additional bills on this issue. The new law, Public Act No. 03-220 "AN ACT CONCERNING INDOOR AIR QUALITY IN SCHOOLS", was signed by Governor Rowland this past July.

TRACK THE BILL... CLICK HERE

This bill takes several important steps to improve air quality in schools including the following:

1. Requires boards of education (BOE) to properly maintain their facilities,

2. Requires BOE to adopt and implement an indoor air quality program that provides for ongoing maintenance and facility reviews necessary for the maintenance and improvement of the indoor air quality of its facilities,

3. Requires BOE to report annually to the Commissioner of Education on the condition of its facilities and the action taken to implement its long-term school building program and indoor air quality program,

4. Requires that prior to January 1, 2008, and every five years BOE to conduct education a uniform inspection and evaluation program of the indoor air quality within their schools,

5. Establishes a new definition for addressing building emergencies that can receive state construction bonding money. "Certified school indoor air quality emergency" means the existence of a building condition determined by the Department of Public Health to present a substantial and imminent adverse health risk that requires remediation in an amount greater than one hundred thousand dollars.

6. Allows a BOE to establish an indoor air quality committee for each school district or facility to increase staff and student awareness of facets of the environment that affect the health of the occupants of school facilities.

If you would like more information on the conference, or on indoor air quality in general, please contact the CT PTA office.

Hope to see you there!

July, 2003

Indoor Air Quality Testing Should Not Be The First Move

Many times, teachers, parents, administrators and other school stakeholders want to have their schools "tested" to assure themselves of "good indoor air quality". This is usually not the first move that responsible parties should make. Why do health professionals recommend caution and a great deal of thought before testing the air? There are a number of reasons.

The Connecticut Department of Public Health has release a FACT SHEET which provides guidelines that school systems can use.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FACT SHEET
Document is in Adobe® Acrobat format®
Click here if you need the free reader

For more information, contact:
Connecticut Department of Public Health
Division of Environmental Epidemiology & Occupational Health
410 Capitol Avenue MS # 11 EOH, PO Box 340308
Hartford, CT 06134 -0308
(860) 509 -7742
John G. Rowland, Governor
Joxel Garcia, MD, MBA, Commissioner
www.state.ct.us/dph

June, 2003

How to Educate Your Community About Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) ... the IAQ TfS Communication Guide

Are you facing an IAQ crisis or just trying to determine how to spread the word about your proactive IAQ management plan? Then this new resource is the answer for you. Schools can ensure the greatest success by keeping open and honest communication with all members of the school community and securing the confidence of key school officials throughout the process of implementing an IAQ management program.

The EPA created the Communications Guide as a companion piece to the IAQ TfS (Tools for Schools) Kit to offer ideas and suggested activities for the IAQ team to advocate the importance of maintaining good IAQ and helping school staff and community members, including parents, media, local businesses and government, to understand the value of implementing an IAQ management program in the school.

For more information, visit the EPA Web site at http://www.epa.gov/iaq/schools to download a free copy of this comprehensive guide, as well as other useful publications.

July, 2002

We will most likely see this issue revisited in the next session.

No action on the bill proposed to provide assistance and direction to school districts to improve the quality of the air in school buildings, including making indoor air quality projects eligible for school construction funding.

No action on the bill to provide funding under the code compliance provisions for schools that undertake projects to improve the indoor environmental quality of its facilities, required each board of education to perform an inspection program of the indoor environmental quality of its schools every 2 years, and exempted the area needed to support the HVAC system from the square footage calculation.

A bill which would deregulate the removal of asbestos floor was defeated (see May 6, 2002).

May 6, 2002

Asbestos Floor Tile

There is a proposal backed by Armstong® Floors to deregulate the removal of asbestos floor tile in schools. The deregulation would have an impact on the indoor air quality of schools. A typical legislative activity is to attach an amendment to a bill that has a lot of support. The original bill may or may not have anything to do with the amendment.

A couple of days ago an amendment to bill number 5505 was added to reflect the deregulation of flooring. Last night bill number 5505 passed without the amendment. It is a concern however that with only days left to the legislative session an amendment might be added to any existing bill that has support.

TRACK THE BILL... CLICK HERE

Contacting your legislator and expressing your opinion about indoor air quality would be help in protecting our children from the effects of poor indoor air quality!

The legislators listed below support the deregulation of asbestos flooring in schools:

Dennis Cleary (Southington/Wolcott, 80th District)
Home Town: Wolcott
Capitol (800) 842-1423
Dennis.Cleary@housegop.state.ct.us

Richard Belden (Shelton, 113th District)
Hometown: Shelton
Capitol (800) 842-1423
Richard.Belden@housegop.state.ct.us

Mary Eberle - (Bloomfield/Windsor, 15th District)
Capitol (800) 842-8267
MaryEberle@po.state.ct.us

February 13, 2002

The CT General Assembly held a public hearing today on the issue of indoor air quality. Connecticut Parent Teacher Association was represented at the hearing.

CT PTA partnered with CEA to highlight the issue of indoor air quality in schools in CT. A 30 second TV spot was produced to be aired during prime time television on CT stations.