A CALL TO ACTION: Create Healthy Schools for Jersey City Children

Parents and Communities United for Education (PCUE)

Jersey City chapter of the Statewide Education Organizing Committee – SEOC

A CALL TO ACTION: Create Healthy Schools for Jersey City Children!

Creating healthy schools must be a top priority for our public school system in Jersey City. A healthy school not only contributes to the comfort, health, and well-being of students but also allows students to perform better academically.

Yet, during this academic year, thousands of children in our public schools had unpleasant experiences because of unhealthy conditions in their schools. Mold problems, for example, caused the sudden shut-down of PS 15 for three weeks. The latest example was the high level of lead in drinking water for six schools (11, 23, 31, 25, 6, 27, and 25), a health hazard that school officials were aware of for more than a year. Concerns regarding school health and safety are common among parents. This concern is shared by many teachers, school staff, and administrators.

Creating an environment free of health hazards is particularly important for school buildings. A total 29,288 students (12.5%of Jersey City population), 2,900 teachers, many other school staff spend an important part of their day in public schools across the city. Children are more vulnerable than adults to health hazards. A typical school has four times more occupants than an office building of similar size. Many schools in Jersey City were built decades ago with little regard for high quality health and safety standards.

Maintaining a healthy and environmentally safe school is not any less important than teaching children. If public schools are accountable for academic performance they must be held equally accountable for safeguarding the well-being of our children by creating schools that are free from health and environmental hazards. A healthy school building will assist the school to accomplish its core mission-- educating children.

Parents' participation and involvement is indispensable to creating healthy and safe schools. Their voice must be heard and respected.

We call for the following steps to create healthy schools for our children:

1. Communicate to parents and the community the results for testing drinking water and the plans for correcting any identified problems:
As part of its agreement with US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the District will provide full and clear information to parents about testing drinking water in schools. This communication will be based on EPA's guideline of "3Ts" (Training,Testing, and Telling). The District will immediately notify parents of its timeline to test drinking water in all schools and correct any identified problems.

2. Create a standing committee at the BOE that will be exclusively responsible for the health and safety of our schools:
The committee will develop and create a comprehensive health and safety plan for our schools, monitor the implementation of the plan, and review the plan as needed. It will also oversee compliance with all NJ workplace and school health and safety laws. The committee will include three parents with voting rights.

3. Create an Indoor Air Quality Team (IAQT) at the district level following Environmental Protection Agency's suggested model:
The IAQ Team will include all interested parties including parents. This team is to receive some training in air quality inspection. The team will plan and arrange walkthroughs for various schools, identify possible problems, and make recommendations to schools. A Health and Safety Coordinator will facilitate and coordinate the IAQ Team.

4. Establish and enforce the policy that parents have a right to know that the schools their children go to are free from health and environmental hazards:
Parents will receive a regular health and safety report card for the schools their children go to, and it must be posted on district website. Additionally, it must be posted on a visible location in each school. The report card will be issued every six months beginning in August 08. Parents will receive immediate notification in case of any health hazards in their children's school.

JOIN US TO TAKE A STAND FOR HEALTHY AND SAFE SCHOOLS!