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"As a state we have worked very hard to take care of our children,
especially their health," Blagojevich said. "Every child now has
access to health insurance through All Kids. Parents work so hard to
keep their children safe and healthy at home, but we must also make
sure their schools are healthy. The Healthy Schools for Healthy
Learning website offers information about how to create a healthy
environment in schools, where children spend most of their day."
The website is a convenient location where people can:
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Print copies of
checklists they can use to evaluate their school's environment.
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Browse school-related
educational materials.
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Test their knowledge
with a school health quiz.
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See if their school
has an indoor environmental quality report.
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Find contact
information for regional offices that serve their community.
"Mold, asbestos, pesticides, lead paint or pipes, and cleaning
products in schools can impact children with asthma, sinus trouble
or allergies and could increase the number of children suffering
from infectious diseases, headaches or respiratory diseases," said
Dr. Eric E. Whitaker, director of the Illinois Department of Public
Health. "The Healthy Schools for Healthy Learning website allows
parents, teachers and students to gain knowledge about the
environmental conditions in their school and identify potential
problems so work can begin to correct them."
"We need to provide the students of Illinois a school environment
in which they can succeed," said State School Superintendent Randy
Dunn. "That means providing them an environment that is healthy. As
we continue to strive to improve our students' academic performance,
we cannot afford to overlook one of the most basic components of the
educational environment, which would obviously include providing a
healthy setting in which to learn."
In order to ensure parents and teachers are aware of the new
resource available to them, the participating agencies have
coordinated several outreach initiatives. A letter from the state
school superintendent will be sent out alerting schools to the new
website. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is including the
website in its Tools For Schools newsletter, and the Illinois
Department of Public Health has notified several statewide groups
such as the Healthy Schools Campaign in order to reach a broader
audience.
The state of Illinois works diligently to make sure students are
learning in a healthy school environment and are not exposed to
environmental dangers.
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Asbestos
brochure: The Illinois Department of Public Health provides
a brochure summarizing a local education agency's responsibility
for asbestos inspections, reinspections, abatement projects,
nonfriable floor tile removal, management plans and record
keeping in schools.
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Pest
management: The Department of Public Health offers "A
Practical Guide to Management of Common Pests in Schools" to
help school districts comply with the Integrated Pest Management
in Schools Act, which requires districts to adopt safer pest
management practices.
[to top of second column]
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Healthy,
high-performing school buildings: The Illinois Capital
Development Board, the state's construction management agency,
also offers the "Illinois Resource Guide for Healthy,
High-Performing School Buildings," which is designed to
introduce school districts to the latest ideas and strategies
aimed at improving the health and efficiency of new and old
schools. The guide covers such topics as energy-efficient and
environmentally friendly building systems and materials, comfort
and health standards for classrooms, kitchen and cafeteria
design, proper air quality and noise levels, "green" cleaning
and maintenance, renewable energy sources, water recycling, and
school bus use. The guide was developed in cooperation with the
Illinois State Board of Education and the Healthy Schools
Campaign.
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Illinois clean
school buses: In October 2003, Blagojevich's Illinois Clean
School Bus Program was launched to offer grants to Illinois
school districts, enabling them to reduce pollution from their
school bus fleets. The multifaceted program includes assisting
Illinois school districts in replacing existing buses with
cleaner models, retrofitting existing buses with advanced
emission control technologies and implementing cleaner fuels.
The program, which also has an important educational component,
will result in a healthier environment for Illinois
schoolchildren and will improve air quality in and around school
buildings and throughout local communities. More than 60 school
districts have received over $2.9 million to clean up over 2,000
buses, including 1,296 buses running on 20 percent biodiesel
fuel in more than 20 school districts. In April 2005,
Cook-Illinois Corporation's fleet of 900 school buses became the
largest in the nation to use biodiesel fuel.
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Illinois
classroom hazardous educational waste reduction: The
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency developed a program for
removing hazardous wastes from the state's school laboratories
and classrooms. Hazardous educational waste reduction is an
important component of the agency's overall effort to make our
environment safer. The Illinois EPA works with local school
districts to rid their classrooms of unused or leftover
laboratory and curriculum products that are potentially
hazardous or toxic. This also ensures that these chemicals do
not end up in a landfill and are not disposed of illegally. The
Illinois EPA has conducted 612 hazardous education waste
collections, serving more than 409 communities and disposing of
more than 1,594 55-gallon drum equivalents of toxic materials.
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Illinois clean
schools: The Illinois EPA, Illinois Department of Public
Health, Illinois State Board of Education and Illinois Waste
Management Research Center have been working together to improve
environmental conditions at Illinois schools in order to
decrease, if not eliminate, the use of hazardous materials in
the classroom. In April 2006, an initial health and safety
workshop was conducted in Springfield. Since November 2002,
approximately 850 teachers have attended one of 33 Safe
Chemicals in Education workshops offered throughout the state.
The Healthy Schools for Healthy Learning website was supported by
a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, Air
and Radiation Division.
[News release from the governor's
office] |
