 |
Parent Teacher Association of Connecticut, Inc. |
|
| Indoor Air Quality |
 |
|
    |
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
| |||||||||||||
|
August, 2007Healthy Environments in
Connecticut Schools
October, 2004Connecticut 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, 2003Conference 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. This bill takes several important steps to improve air quality in schools including the following:
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, 2003Indoor 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 For more information, contact:
June, 2003How 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, 2002We 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, 2002Asbestos 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. 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) Richard Belden
(Shelton, 113th District) Mary Eberle
- (Bloomfield/Windsor, 15th District)
February 13, 2002The 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.
[ Top ]
|
|
|
CLICK
HERE
