One of Solano Asthma Coalition’s (SAC) main objectives is to improve school indoor air quality through the Environmental Protection Agency Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Tools for Schools (TfS) program. TfS was developed to reduce exposures to indoor environmental contaminants in schools through the voluntary adoption of sound indoor air quality management practices. TfS program is a comprehensive resource to help schools maintain a healthy environment in school buildings by identifying, correcting, and preventing IAQ problems. Poor indoor air quality can impact the comfort and health of students and staff, which, in turn, can affect concentration, attendance, and student performance. In addition, if schools fail to respond promptly to poor IAQ, students and staff are at an increased risk of short-term health problems, such as fatigue and nausea, as well as long-term problems like asthma.
For years, Solano Asthma Coalition has attempted to work with Solano County school districts to improve school indoor air quality. SAC hosted a TfS workshop and classroom walkthrough as well as a green cleaning products educational workshop on the harmful effects of commonly used toxic cleaning products for all school districts. SAC has also conducted numerous asthma inservice trainings for front office personnel and teachers in four school districts.
At the 2006 CAFA Annual Meeting, Janis Nielsen, Program Manager for Teachers for Healthy Kids, announced CTA had received a grant from The California Endowment for their Healthy Air, Healthy Kids (HAHK) program linking the California Teachers Association (CTA) and local teacher associations with other stakeholders to advance school indoor air quality policies and practices. This collaboration was very exciting news for SAC, but unfortunately it was one more year of phone calls before our first meeting with Fairfield-Suisun Unified Teachers Association (F-SUTA) President Melanie Driver. Melanie has asthma and taught in a classroom with indoor air problems. With Melanie’s buy-in, we presented TfS at a site rep meeting. As a result of the presentation, seven teachers completed classroom checklists. Acting on this positive response, Melanie scheduled a meeting with the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District (FSUSD) Superintendent and all key stakeholders. At that meeting, we presented to Custodial and Facilities personnel the classroom checklists identifying some of the most common asthma triggers found in classrooms (e.g., lack of dusting and vacuuming). Within hours, the problems were addressed by Custodial and Facilities staff. Additional problems listed on the checklists will be addressed this summer - damaged carpet in one classroom will be replaced and new roofs at two schools will be installed over the summer.
The enthusiastic response to improving indoor air quality in FSUSD has resulted in the District creating a Strategic Plan, an IAQ Team, and a Sustainability Plan. SAC will honor FSUSD as our “Model IAQ School District” and Melanie Driver as our “2007-2008 Asthma Champion” at our May 28th Fifth Annual Asthma Challenge Awards luncheon. |
Printer Friendly 
