State Senate Passes School Air Quality Bill

The state Senate passed the Wisconsin Indoor Environmental Quality in Schools Act Tuesday, 32-1.

The bill, SB 325, provides schools with a guide to improve indoor environmental quality and ensure that new construction, remodeling or renovation projects pay attention to student health concerns before the projects are approved.

Last fall, WEAC members testified before the legislative committee that recommended passage of SB 325, saying good indoor air quality in schools contributes to a favorable learning environment for students and a productive work environment for staff.

The Senate Committee on Housing and Financial Institutions ultimately voted, 6-1, to recommend the bill for passage a week after WEAC members testified.

In addition to WEAC support, several educators, school staff and students told legislators about illnesses related to poor indoor air quality in their schools.

Stacey Meyer, a former teacher in Westby Area High School, said she and four of her colleagues became sick following a remodeling project at the school. It resulted in the need for five long-term substitute teachers, and ultimately two of the five sick teachers took earlier-than-planned retirements and three resigned.

Brookfield Central High School senior Emily Ertel has been documenting the mold and air-quality issues in her school for three years.

Ertel specifically advocated for a provision in SB 325 that requires the state to notify school boards that are not in compliance and to make such information available to students and their parents, school employees and the general public if noncompliance poses a health and safety risk.

"If parents knew, they would not be OK with the conditions here," Ertel said of her school. "People are taken advantage of every day - just by having to be in this building."

The bill:

• Creates an Indoor Environmental Quality in Schools Task Force and requires the Wisconsin Department of Commerce to establish a management plan to improve indoor environmental quality in schools and training requirements for school building maintenance personnel.
• Instructs school boards to ensure that school buildings are in compliance with the management plan and that construction plans and schedules address indoor environmental quality issues and ongoing maintenance issues.
• Requires the Wisconsin Department of Commerce to determine that construction plans facilitate good indoor environmental quality prior to approval.
• Requires the department to notify school boards that are not in compliance with the legislation and to make such information available to students and their parents, school employees and the general public if noncompliance poses a health and safety risk.
• Makes educational materials related to school indoor environmental quality and reports of problems available to students and their parents, teachers, and other school district employees.

WEAC Legislative Program Coordinator Deb Sybell said schools across the state are facing indoor environmental quality problems such as mold, fungi, asbestos, carbon dioxide, and poor ventilation.

She said failure to prevent indoor air problems, or failure to respond promptly, can have consequences such as:

• Increasing the potential for health problems for students and staff.
• Reducing the performance of teachers, staff and students due to discomfort, sickness or absenteeism.
• Accelerating deterioration and reducing efficiency of school buildings.
• Increasing the potential that schools will have to be closed or occupants relocated.
• Creating potential liability.