National Healthy Schools Day

Floor Speech

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Mr. TONKO. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Massachusetts.

I rise today in support of House Resolution 370, a resolution I was proud to introduce to recognize National Healthy Schools Day.

National Healthy Schools Day recognizes the importance of having a clean, healthy and safe indoor environment for our Nation's schools.

Fifty-four million children, Madam Speaker, and 6 million adults spend their days in our Nation's schools. The EPA estimates that up to one-half of those schools have problems, problems with indoor air quality. Some 32 million students attend schools that have self-reported environmental problems with their facilities that can affect students' health and certainly students' learning.

Some of the hazards common to schools include overcrowding, indoor air pollution, mold infestation, airborne fiberglass particles, lead and copper-contaminated drinking water, playgrounds and classrooms with high levels of pesticides, unchecked furnaces and buses leaking carbon monoxide, chemical spills, renovation fumes, demolition dust, exhaust from gasoline-powered equipment and emissions from hazardous facilities next door to their school campus.

These problems can contribute to absenteeism, the need for medication use amongst students and can contribute also to learning difficulties, sick building syndrome, staff turnover and liability issues for our school districts across this great country.

Children are more vulnerable than adults to environmental hazards in their schools simply because of their developing immune systems and small bodies. Poor indoor environmental quality has been linked to asthma and other illnesses in our children. With one out of every 13 children suffering from asthma, the number one cause of missed school days, it is very important that we address these issues and address them boldly.

Research shows that simple steps can be taken to make our Nation's schools healthier. Heating and ventilation equipment can be improved upon to enhance indoor air quality. New schools can be built with a healthy design and can be located at nonpolluted sites. Nontoxic products can be used for cleaning, for maintenance and for teaching. The use of natural light should be encouraged. Certainly we can improve on that dynamic heavily.

Many States have adopted guidelines for building healthy high-performing schools that incorporate these steps and more. H.R. 2187, the 21st Century Green High-Performing Public Schools Facilities Act, which we will be considering in this body later this week, would do just that. It would require States to adopt similar guidelines.

I was very proud to work with my colleagues at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to develop New York State's High Performance Schools Guidelines. I would suggest that they are some of the most effective and most rigid guidelines in the country and will score wonderful opportunities for our students.

National Healthy Schools Day draws attention to the importance of having a safe and a healthy school environment for all of our Nation's children.

National Healthy Schools Day is supported by the Healthy Schools Network, the EPA, the National Educational Association and many more organizations.

I am proud to be counted as a supporter of National Healthy Schools Day and look forward to working with my colleagues here to ensure that every student has a healthy environment in which to learn. Our students require that, and our students deserve that.

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