Scared, Lonely, and Sick?

There's no need to accept poor indoor air quality in a school. The IAQ experts' advice: Organize!

Illustration: Image Zoo

Given just five minutes to list workplace health and safety hazards they face each day, NEA activists from 26 states quickly filled five, large sheets of poster paper. First came the obvious culprits: mold, pesticides, diesel exhaust particulates, and classroom overcrowding. Then came the obscene: rat, bat, and pigeon droppings; landfill methane gas; antifreeze in school water; and even uranium tailings (near Utah schools).

These teachers, education support professionals (ESPs), and Association staffers had gathered in Washington, D.C., to share experiences and prepare for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) December Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Symposium.

The symposium focused on how to beef up labor-management cooperation, community outreach, and student involvement to clean up indoor air quality (IAQ) in America's schools.

But NEA's "pre-symposium" zeroed in on one key piece of IAQ strategy overlooked by the three-day EPA event: what educators must do when administration cooperation just doesn't exist. Meeting participants got solid advice on that score from four seasoned UniServ reps, an industrial hygienist, an environmental law expert, a federal administrative judge, and Claire Barnett, executive director of the non-profit Healthy Schools Network.

"Every cent of deferred school maintenance will come back to haunt you," Barnett warned the Association activists. "Think creatively how to build bridges to parents and to environmental, public health, and other organizations in your community. Your building is not just about you, but about everybody else in the community."

In the daylong session, teachers and ESPs mapped out the IAQ hazards of a "typical" school. One five-state group sketched a building with sealed windows, flat roofs, cockroach and mice feces, poor temperature control, and an HVAC system full of water and mold.

Then there was another,  even more sinister hazard. Too many school employees "fear they'll put their jobs in jeopardy if they speak out over health and safety," said Anne Marie Abercrombie, a fifth-grade teacher in Elizabeth, New Jersey. "We do have a voice and we have a right to be involved in this issue."

Often school employees "don't want to admit they are vulnerable to an IAQ problem," pointed out Washington State UniServ rep Art Busch. "People are scared, lonely, and sick."

No expert speaker could cite a current law or standard that has the teeth to solve IAQ problems. The best official route available: Build on existing statutes, enforce building codes, and cultivate relationships with government environmental specialists who can offer technical advice.

As a smarter route, experts advised IAQ campaigners to:

ORGANIZE IAQ RESOURCES. New Jersey UniServ reps Norm Danzig and John Ropars recommended that activists research IAQ issues on the Web, document school problems, network with parents and occupational health coalitions, negotiate strong contractual health and safety language, and build both union and joint labor-management health and safety committees.

ORGANIZE SCHOOL EMPLOYEES. Indiana Uni-Serv rep Art Henderlong urged budding activists to "form your own local affiliate IAQ team with leaders willing to say things publicly." From there, get "willing volunteers," ask school nurses how many kids get sick, and survey teachers and ESPs about IAQ symptoms.

"Take digital pictures, gather resources, and bring in key community stakeholders," Henderlong added.

ORGANIZE FOR THE LONG HAUL. "Expect resistance, but be persistent," stressed Diane Murray, a high school nurse in Beaufort County, South Carolina. "Network, collect business cards, and don't be afraid to ask questions."

The payoff for Association persistence in Beaufort: a labor-management program that has put IAQ teams and "green" cleaning products in every building, pulled out school carpeting, and created a uniform IAQ complaint procedure with a 24-hour response time.

For the district, that has meant a decrease in costly workers' compensation claims. And all this without an IAQ law or a union contract. Say activists, that's the power of organization.

—DAVE WINANS

For more on air quality, go to http://neahin.org/programs/environmental/iaq.htm or contact NEA Health Information Network staffer Jennie Young at jyoung@nea.org.