- US EPA efforts to promote healthy schools
The US EPA has pioneered indoor air quality in schools nationwide with its highly successful Tools for Schools (TfS) program.
Learn more at: www.epa.gov/schools
- US EPA announces new tool for schools
EPA has announced a new tool for schools: Envisioning Excellence: Lessons from Effective School Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Programs.
Envisioning Excellence helps schools take effective action to advance health, safety, and wellness initiatives. Envisioning Excellence presents the Framework for Effective School IAQ Programs: Six Key Drivers – guidelines that detail the organizational approaches and practices that are fundamental to school IAQ program success – and presents five profiles in excellence to demonstrate how different school districts applied the Framework to create effective and enduring IAQ programs.
Click here to view a copy of Envisioning Excellence: Lessons from Effective School Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Programs.
Click here to view a Snapshot of Five Profiles in Excellence, a document highlighting the key features of each school's innovative program.
- Make sure you have your Tools for Schools (TfS) Action Kit
The IAQ TfS Action Kit shows schools how to carry out a practical plan to improve indoor air problems at little- or no-cost using straightforward activities and in-house staff. The Kit provides best practices, industry guidelines, sample policies, and a sample IAQ management plan. The voluntary guidance can save schools time and money so that resources can be directed toward educating children. The IAQ TfS Action Kit is co-sponsored by the National Parent Teacher Association, National Education Association, Association of School Business Officials, American Federation of Teachers, and the American Lung Association.
You can learn more about this at: www.epa.gov/iaq/schools/actionkit.html
- Learn how to manage an IAQ program in your school district
EPA's IAQ TfS Program is designed to provide schools with common sense, easy-to-follow, guidance for developing, implementing, and sustaining an IAQ management program. An effective IAQ management program addresses both short-term and long-term IAQ issues, and puts in place policies and standard procedures to prevent future IAQ concerns.
- EPA's Healthy School Environments Assessment Tool (HealthySEAT) is a free software tool that helps school systems effectively manage environmental issues.
Download this at: www.epa.gov/schools/
- Seeking answers for key questions regarding high performance schools? Get them at: www.epa.gov/iaq/
- Survey results from the first national assessment of indoor air quality management practices and policies indicates that 22% of schools in the U.S. have IAQ practices that meet EPA guidelines.
Access this at ehp.niehs.nih.gov
- Scholarships!
The US EPA and CEFPI are jointly awarding scholarships to select school district members to attend US EPA's Tools for Schools (TfS) Symposium in Washington, D.C. in December 2007. To know more e-mail: sarat@cefpi.org.
- EPA Awards for School Districts
There are three awards for which schools and districts may apply:
The IAQ TfS Great Start Award is for schools and school districts that are in the initial stages of implementing the IAQ TfS Program.
Details and application forms at www.epa.gov/iaq/schools/greatstartaward.html
The IAQ TfS Leadership Award is for schools and school districts that have shown significant progress in implementing an IAQ management program.
Details and application forms at www.epa.gov/iaq/schools/leadershipaward.html
The IAQ TfS Excellence Award is EPA's most prestigious IAQ award, presented only to schools and school districts with exemplary IAQ programs and that have shown exceptional commitment to good IAQ in schools.
Details and application forms at www.epa.gov/iaq/schools/excellenceaward.html
Frequently Asked Questions:
An excellent compilation from EPA which answers most of your common questions on indoor air quality.
Available at: www.epa.gov/iaq/schools/scfaqs.html
