Rep. Bolinsky, Healthy School Advocates Celebrate the 20th Anniversary of National Healthy Schools Day in Connecticut
HARTFORD- State Rep. Mitch Bolinsky (R-Newtown) with Newtown constituent Joellen Lawson, founder of ConnFESS (the Connecticut Foundation for Environmentally Safe Schools), along with other notable state and national Healthy School Advocates, gathered at the State Capitol to honor and celebrate the 20th anniversary of National Healthy Schools Day on April 4, 2023.
Connecticut’s Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) act for schools’ law reinforces our state’s position and commitment to “Healthy Schools”.
Despite Connecticut’s initial 2003 launch of standards for annual inspection, maintenance, and reporting of each district’s air quality conditions by school building, the 2013 legislature relaxed inspection frequencies to once every 5-years. It’s believed this has generally resulted in less healthy school buildings, some of which expose building occupants to hazards like chemical, mold, and other environmental sensitivities. These needs were also, highlighted during the COVID pandemic.
This 2023 legislation will return our state to more frequent, annual inspections and reporting. Together with Governor Lamont’s 2022 commitment to fund a $150-million grant program to assist public school districts in the remediation or replacement of deficient HVAC systems, it is great news for our school children, educators, building support staff and visitors.
Rep Bolinsky observed: “Connecticut leaped to the forefront of indoor air quality legislation in 2003 but slowly let it slip away. 2013 was a pivotal year in relaxing standards. I’ve been advocating for and with Mrs. Lawson to renew, re-formalize and fund this important program for more than 10-years now, and I’m so happy we’re finally getting this done for her, for the state’s school children, and other affected building occupants, like her fellow, affected educators.”
Additionally, Rep. Bolinsky read an Official State Proclamation from Governor Ned Lamont proclaiming April 4th National Healthy Schools Day.
The all-day event and informational forum at the Legislative Office Building included ConnFESS, it’s dedicated IAQ coalition and CEA invite you to a celebration of National Heathy Schools Day focused on the pathway forward in making every Connecticut school a place with a safe, healthy, work and learning environment.
“Joellen’s advocacy and tenacity has again pushed Connecticut to the forefront in the fight for healthy schools, I am proud to call her my constituent. Connecticut has been a leader in IAQ, for the good of our students and educators. The goal of National Healthy Schools Day is to support a safe and healthy environment for all school children and personnel and the need to highlight the need for improved attention and protection of environmental health in schools for all school occupants,” said Rep. Bolinsky. “Unfortunately, it took the COVID pandemic to reawaken us to the importance of and the responsibility we bear to ensure every Connecticut school is a safe place when it comes to air quality. May our renewed awareness move the ball forward so every student and teacher can safely breathe in their school.”
National Healthy Schools Day is a day of awareness to remind residents of the environmental health laws that promote healthy environments in Connecticut schools. National Healthy Schools Day is a national movement to improve schools’ indoor environmental quality, as it adversely impacts predominantly women and children. School environments play an important role in the health and academic success of children. Each school day, 55 million children and 7 million adults — 20 percent of the total U.S. population and 98 percent of all children—spend their days inside school buildings.
A new state grant program was created in 2022 to ensure that schools have a dedicated source of funding to support additional infrastructure upgrades, noting that the pandemic exposed a significant need to have modernized air filtration units in schools.
The Connecticut Public Schools HVAC/Indoor Air Quality Grant Program is being administered by the Office of School Construction Grants and Review, an office within the Connecticut Department of Administrative Services.
Applications from school districts were submitted to the state by December 1, 2022 with municipalities being required to provide matching grants to fund the project costs. Award notices will be announced in early 2023.
Examples of eligible projects include:
- Replacing, upgrading, or repairing boilers and other heating and ventilation components;
- Replacing controls and technology systems related to HVAC operations;
- Installing or upgrading air conditioning or ventilation systems; and
- Other similar work approved by the commissioner of the Department of Administrative Services.
Distribution of the grants will be prioritized based on:
- Age and condition of the current HVAC system or equipment being replaced or upgraded in the school;
- Current air quality issues at the school;
- Age and condition of the overall school building;
- School district’s master plan;
- Availability of maintenance records;
- A contract or plans for the routine maintenance and cleaning of the HVAC system; and
- The local or regional board of education’s or regional educational service center’s ability to finance the remainder of the costs for such project after receiving a grant under the program.
About one in 10 children in the United States now has asthma, which causes them to miss an average of four days of school a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.