"Many schools have air conditioning but they don't clean the air ducts so it's blowing bad air into the school."
- Mother of a child with asthma, LA County
In California, and across the country, asthma is the leading cause of school absences due to chronic conditions. In some cases, schools themselves may be keeping children with asthma sick. A 2003 report by the California Air Resources Board and the California Department of Health Services found indoor air quality problems in traditional and portable classrooms, including problems with ventilation, humidity, floor dust contaminants, moisture and mold, and air pollutants. These conditions can, directly or indirectly, trigger an asthma attack.
A bill authored by Assembly Member Fran Pavley (AB 2863) aims to make sure greatly needed new school construction and school remodeling projects optimize indoor air quality (IAQ) for the sake of our children's health. California is currently making large investments in new school construction – well over 1,000 new schools will be built in California in the next several years. Under AB2863, the State Architect will incorporate the California Collaborative for High Performance Schools’ “Best Practices” for improved indoor air quality into the design and construction of new or remodeled school facilities. The bill also requires existing schools to conduct self-assessments to identify indoor air quality problems and to develop an IAQ management plans. Assembly Member Wilma Chan also supports the use of IAQ management plans in her bill on asthma, AB 2367.
Schools from across the state have begun to demonstrate these IAQ management plans are easy to use and can make a real difference. A school uses a short checklist to identify problems. Many problems can be fixed easily and at little cost – by simply moving books and papers blocking an air vent, for example. CAFA coalitions support AB2863 because it stops air quality problems in new schools before they start and become more costly. The bill saves school districts money by reducing asthma-related absences and therefore increasing funds from the state for average daily attendance.
The results can be dramatic. At Carver Elementary School in the Bay View/Hunter’s Point neighborhood in San Francisco, low-cost IAQ improvements reduced asthma episodes in school, and visits to the office for asthma inhalers dropped by half. Unfortunately, only about11% of schools in the state currently use IAQ management plans. Improving air quality in new and existing schools is a common sense way to improve the health of teachers and students across the state.
For further information, contact Rebecca Flournoy at 510-663-2333.
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