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NEWSLETTER

Read our Spring 2009 Yearbook. There is fresh air at US EPA and in the White House, and therefore wonderful new opportunities to advance our agenda. Make sure you look at the inside color map of activities our office has fostered! Green Cleaning Bills! Indoor Air Quality Actions! Governor's Proclamations!

PRESS RELEASES

PRESS: for release, Sunday, February 8th, 9 AM Eastern

THE BAIL-OUTS: KIDS CLASSROOMS v. COMMODES
Congress ignores kids' needs for healthy school buildings

(Washington, DC, February 9) Asks Claire Barnett, Executive Director, Healthy Schools Network and coordinator of the national Coalition for Healthier Schools, "Kids v. commodes says it all. There is nothing 'moderate' about ignoring the needs of 54 million school children to have schools that are dry, clean, and quiet, and have good Indoor Air, lighting, and sanitation."

The national Coalition for Healthier Schools and its 200 organizational members coordinated by Healthy Schools Network are calling on Congress to fund US Environmental Protection Agency at $125million in the stimulus bills to ramp up its inter-agency coordinating work and national outreach to help states develop building assessments, advance Indoor Air Quality during hazardous renovation work on occupied schools, and work to ensure that school modernizations tackle the building features that most impact child health and learning. US EPA is the only federal agency that has federal and regional staff, national and local grant partners, and voluntary best practices for healthy school environments funded and working in the field.

PRESS: Sep 27, 2007

Celebrating New York's Healthy and Green Design Standards
Healthy Schools Network September Doubleheader Celebrating New York State's Healthy and Green School Design Standard Receiving National School Design Award in San Francisco Honors CHPS Architect-Founder Charles Eley
(Albany) Today, Healthy Schools Network, Inc., a national environmental health organization founded in Albany, NY in 1994, receives a national award in San Francisco for promoting healthy and green school designs, and stands with the Commissioners of Education and Environmental Conservation and the President of NYSERDA to celebrate New York State's unique school design manual, NY-CHPS. At this same event, state officials are also honoring the East Hampton School District for designing and building NY-State's first CHPS-compliant school.

PRESS: Sep 26, 2007

National Healthy Schools Hero Award
Charles Eley, Founding Executive Director, CHPS Receives National Healthy Schools Hero Award
(PRLog.Org) - Sep 26, 2007 - (San Francisco) Charles Eley, the California architect and founding Executive Director of the San Francisco-based Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) was presented with a National Healthy Schools Hero Award for 2007 on the eve of the first annual CHPS Conference in San Francisco.

PRESS: Monday, July 9, 2007

Don't Put Schools on Hazardous Sites
Legislature Must Assure Healthy and Safe Schools for All NYS Children
Close the Leasing Loophole
New York, NY (July 9, 2007) - Advocates from across the City and State have come together to call on the Legislature to protect children's health while at school by closing a loophole that exists in the current NYC School Construction Authority leasing program.

PRESS: April 11, 2007

Unwanted Exposures:
Who's in Charge of Protecting Children from Environmental Hazards?
Leading New York State disability rights, environmental and education organizations joined with the Learning Disabilities Association and Healthy Schools Network today in Albany to release a new, landmark report about children's health, Unwanted Exposure: Preventing Environmental Threats to the Health of New York State's Children.

Moved by the undeniable correlation between the growth of learning and developmental disabilities and the proliferation of harmful toxins in the environment, representatives of the disability advocacy, environmental health, children's health and education communities joined together to call on Gov. Eliot Spitzer and the Legislature to address this growing public health problem.

New School "Green" Cleaning Law to Take Effect

For most of New York State's children, school will be starting very soon.
This September also marks the beginning of new "green" cleaning rules for
both public and private schools across the state. This new state law
requires schools to transition to "green" cleaning products along with
recommended "green" cleaning practices, that will minimize adverse health
impacts on children's health and the environment.

PRESS: For release Monday, May 15, 2006

State Agencies Urged to Follow Legislative Standard to
Minimize Impact on Kids in Green Cleaning Law
(Albany, May 15) Representing environment and health groups from around the state, Healthy Schools Network at a press conference in Albany, NY today urged New York State to minimize the adverse health effects on children in setting new guidelines for implementing the state's Green Cleaning Law enacted last year. Said Healthy Schools Network State Director Stephen Boese, "It is the responsibility of government to assure that school cleaning and maintenance products meet the Legislative standard of minimizing adverse impacts on children's health. We therefore stand with a wide range of environmental and children's health advocates and urge that New York State adopt procurement guidelines for schools that stipulate additional protections for children's health, in addition to adopting the current Green Seal standards for the purchase of school cleaning and maintenance supplies." Green Seal is a not for profit organization in Washington, DC that does independent third party ratings of green products.

Embargoed for Release: 12 noon EDT, 9 AM PDT, Monday, April 24, 2006

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION ON MENTAL RETARDATION
AMERICAN SCHOOL HEALTH ASSOCIATION
HEALTHY SCHOOLS CAUCUS
of the National Education Association
HEALTHY SCHOOLS NETWORK
WITH
20 ORGANIZATIONS NATIONWIDE
32 Million Children at High Risk: State by State Data
Personal Stories Reveal Problems Are Deep, Widespread
Coalition Calls for Congressional Hearing and Federal Actions

(Washington, DC, April 24, 2006) Releasing two linked national reports, national, state, and
local groups—and the countless children, parents, educators, and health care providers they
represent-- called for a Congressional Hearing and new federal health policy to address deficiencies in children’s environmental health protection, as well as stronger efforts to improve school environments in all states. “There are an estimated 32,000,000 children at high risk every day for health and learning problems caused by schools and children have no health protection”, said Claire L. Barnett, Executive Director, Healthy Schools Network. “We love our schools, but this must change.” She added, “Federal health policy is crucial, as is leadership for an interagency strategy to hasten the deployment of best practices to improve the environmental conditions of schools.”

PRESS: Friday, September 30, 2005, 8 AM Easterm Time

KID-SAFE CLEAN-UPS OF KATRINA DAMAGES URGED
OPEN LETTER TO BUSH, CONGRESS RELEASED

(Washington, DC, September 30, 2005) A national coalition of more than 300 organizations today sent an open letter to President Bush and Congress asking that the federal agencies immediately develop, disseminate and use uniform clean-up standards for schools and day care facilities in the areas hard-hit by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. They also urged federal health and safety repair funds be appropriated for schools, similar to those Congress appropriated in 2001. Noting that children are uniquely vulnerable to environmental toxicants and that schools are known to house a wide array of highly hazardous materials, the coalition urged swift action to prevent more harm to children returning to damaged communities.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, September 16, 2005

NYC COUNCIL PASSES "GREEN AND HEALTHY" SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION PROVISIONS WITH NEW GREEN BUILDINGS BILL
Miller Hails Intro 324A Effort to Protect Children's Respiratory Health

(NYC, September 16) Healthy Schools Network congratulates Council Speaker Gifford Miller and the New York City Council for their leadership and commitment to the health of schoolchildren, teachers and all in school facilities. Intro 324-A, passed Thursday by the NYC Council, will improve education, improve the health of children and all school staff, and save money for schools. This legislation will enact "green" or healthy and high performance building standards for new school construction and renovation.

For release Thursday, September 15, 2005

Mayor Signs Green Buildings-Healthy Schools Bill:
Largest School District Goes Green; Action will Improve Health and Education
Healthy Schools Network congratulates Mayor Bloomberg and the New York City Council for their leadership and commitment to the health of schoolchildren, teachers and all in school facilities. Intro 324-A, approved today by the Mayor, is an important new law that will improve education, improve the health of children and all school staff, and save money for schools. This legislation will enact "green" or healthy and high performance building standards for new school construction and renovation.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, August 24, 2005

HEALTHY SCHOOLS NETWORK APPLAUDS GOVERNOR PATAKI
FOR PROTECTING CHILDREN'S HEALTH:
First State to Require Schools to Use Green Cleaning Products

(Albany, NY, August 24) Governor Pataki signed legislation last night that protects children, teachers and all school personnel from toxic cleaning products commonly used by schools. Healthy Schools Network applauds the Governor and the Legislature for addressing this important issue, and assuring that NYS schools will now use healthy and "green" cleaning products.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, June 21, 2005

STOPPING TOXIC CLEANING CHEMICALS IN SCHOOLS
GOVERNOR'S BILL PASSES BOTH HOUSES

(Albany, NY, June 21) Governor Pataki's bill to advance the use of green cleaning products in schools passed the New York State Assembly today; it was approved by the Senate last Thursday. The Governor announced his intent to require schools to use "green cleaning" products during his January 2005 State of the State speech that announced his new Executive Order on Green Cleaning for all state agencies and promised a bill to extend green cleaning to all schools statewide.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 28th, 2005

NATIONAL US EPA AWARD for HEALTHY SCHOOLS NETWORK

(Albany, New York, Washington, DC) Healthy Schools Network, Inc., a national environmental health research, education, and advocacy organization founded in upstate New York in 1995 has received a national Recognition Award for Children's Health Protection from the US EPA. This is the first year that EPA has given out the competitive national Award. "It is an honor to receive this Award and to have our issues recognized. We do this work for children," said founder and Executive Director Claire Barnett.

EMBARGOED UNTIL MONDAY, APRIL 18, 2005, 8:30 AM ET

FEDERAL 'MARSHALL PLAN' NEEDED TO PROTECT
CHILDREN'S HEALTH AND SCHOOLS

National Healthy Schools Day 2005, April 18,

Coast to Coast: Events, Actions, Press Contacts

PRESS RELEASE - Hold for 11:00 AM, Monday, April 18, 2005

"Sound and Basic: Healthy School Reforms"
Coalition Urges Action on Bill Package
Legislators Mark National Healthy Schools Day

(Albany, April 18) Parent, public health, environment, and education groups today praised the bipartisan actions of NYS Senator James Alesi and Assembly Member Steven Englebright to put forward a package of bills to improve health, improve education, save money for schools and promote solutions to school building environmental problems that are eroding children's health and test scores.

EMBARGOED UNTIL MONDAY, APRIL 18, 2005, 8:30 AM ET

FEDERAL 'MARSHALL PLAN' NEEDED TO PROTECT
CHILDREN'S HEALTH AND SCHOOLS

National Healthy Schools Day 2005, April 18,

Chicago, New York, Washington, DC (April 18, 2005)-School building environmental problems are eroding children's health and test scores. Parent, public health, environment, and education groups today urged the White House and federal agencies to develop a "Marshall Plan" to identify and to promote solutions to protect the nation's schools and the health and safety of schoolchildren. This critical issue deserves an action plan that involves federal awareness and intervention.

Healthy Schools Lauds New York City Council's Green Cleaning Bill;
Praises Councilwoman Moskowitz, Council Speaker Miller

(New York City, February 1, 2005)

Healthy Schools Network today stood with New York City Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz and Council Speaker Gifford Miller on the steps of City Hall as they announced new far-reaching legislation that would protect schoolchildren along with all New Yorkers from the harmful effects of toxic cleaning products.

BUSH URGED TO DIRECT AGENCIES ON SCHOOL HAZARDS

(Albany, NY and Kent, OH, January 4)

With the December 23, 2004 publication of a major new paper on how school environments may affect occupant learning and health in the Journal of School Health, the Healthy Schools Network and the American School Health Association are calling upon President Bush to direct the federal agencies to work together and with the states to improve school environments and children's health.

COMMENT ON GOVERNOR PATAKI's STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS:
PATAKI AND NEW YORK IN FOREFRONT OF SCHOOL ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

(Albany, NY, January 5, 2005)

Governor Pataki today signed an Executive Order that requires all state agencies and authorities in New York State to begin using "environmentally preferable (green) products" for institutional facility cleaning. In addition in his annual State of the State message he also announced he is submitting new legislation to require all public and private schools to similarly begin using greener, healthier cleaning products.

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