Building Momentum Turning Enthusiasm into Action January pm

Building Momentum: Turning Enthusiasm into Action January 23, 2007 1:00-3:00 pm Presentation Summary Agenda • Welcome and Speaker Introductions • Review Framework for Successful IAQ Programs • Amity Regional School District • Omaha Public School District • Visalia Unified School District • Questions Tracy Enger: We’re so excited about the level of interest in this call and welcome you to the call. The purpose of this call is to follow up with the enthusiasm from the Symposium and help you (the school districts) turn your excitement about the program into action and for us to help you figure out how best to do this. The three districts on the phone that are speaking have all developed, built and sustained award winning TfS programs. We are going to look at their districts through the framework lens, which was introduced at this year’s Symposium. Then we will entertain questions for the remainder of the call. After the call, we will provide call notes and the speakers’ presentation slides. 1 Polling Question Does your school or school district have an IAQ management plan? Yes No At this time, I would like to lay a foundation for you with the framework for those of you that did not attend the Symposium this year. Two years ago, we tried to assess where we were going and how to get there with the IAQ TfS program. We wanted to help school districts channel their energy and address the hurdles of getting the program through its adolescent stage. We started to examine the success and the challenges of various school districts. We discovered that 1/3 of schools out there had IAQ management programs that were TfS or were compatible with TfS. 2 Framework for Effective School IAQ Programs In figuring this out, some common themes began to emerge. These became the framework for the program, or the elements of a successful program. You will see things that should look familiar. The programs that were engaging in all of these drivers simultaneously were experiencing the most success. The framework is an ongoing, iterative process rather than a linear process. Polling Question Does the Framework resonate with you? Yes No 3 You can be engaged at any level with any of these drivers. Successful programs are continually moving all of the drivers forward simultaneously. We wanted to feature the faculty school districts at the 7th Annual IAQ TfS Symposium who understand the framework. I view the frameworks as the common language for discussing IAQ issues, or the Rosetta stone in the language of that district. We will return to the ideas of the framework and listen for the features of those stories. Now I am going to turn it over to Jack Levine from Amity. Amity Regional School District No. 5, CT Jack Levine Director of Finance & Administration Jack Levine: We are a small district, with three facilities, two middle schools and one high school, with a budget of $38 million. Amity has been active in IAQ TfS for the past two years and I will explain how we got into this program. All three schools in the district are fully implemented into the program. The IAQ committee is comprised of individuals from a variety of backgrounds, such as me, a nurse, a custodian, etc. 4 Amity’s District Information • Number of schools: 3 • Number of students: 2,560 • Number of staff: 316 FTE • Total sq. ft. of building space: 474,000 • Age range of buildings: 43 to 50 Yrs. (HS major expansion; MS - fully renovated as new) • Setting of district: Suburban • Budget: $37.9 million Jack Levine: Our greatest challenge is continuing with the momentum on a day to day basis. We started going into IAQ TfS in 2001 due to numerous health complaints. There was bad publicity, making the front page of the newspapers, and we were the poster child of what not to do with IAQ. There was talk of a cancer cluster and the community felt bad for Amity. The Board made IAQ one of the highest priorities and convinced the community that we should have $75 million for a building project. Shortly afterward, a new superintendent was hired and hired me to invigorate the program. At the time, I was at another district that had won the excellence award, so I had experience with IAQ and the TfS program. I was hired to oversee the program at Amity. 5 About Our IAQ Program • Program actively in place for 2 years • Members of IAQ Team: Finance Director; Facilities Director; Principal or Assistant; Teacher; Nurse; Head Custodian; Support Staff; Parent • Program implemented in 100% of schools • Program’s Greatest Achievement: Developing trust with teachers • Program’s Greatest Challenge: Continuing the momentum Jack Levine: One of the first things we did was institute the SWAT team protocol, with a proactive approach to addressing problems. Teachers believed that management did not care about their health and safety - it was a bad situation that needed to change. The SWAT team immediately goes to the classroom, communicates with the teachers, and tries to solve the problem. They tell the teacher what we plan to do about their complaint. Going to a proactive approach is critical. Besides communication, which is critical, the standard we have set is that if a teacher is not happy, then we are not happy. Tackling IAQ What was the defining moment or key motivation in getting started on IAQ? Amity was the ‘poster child’ of what NOT to do regarding IAQ Key Steps Taken to Launch Program: - Created BOE goal to have highest quality indoor air possible - Created central office leadership and oversight of TfS program - Hired experience person to invigorate TfS program - Instituted hands-on, proactive approach (‘Swat team’ protocol) - Communicate - Take Action (Safety service program; Online maintenance work request system; Enhanced preventive maintenance program; Custodial maintenance study; Purchase of new cleaning equipment; Major renovation project of $75 million) 6 Tackling IAQ What were the defining moments in taking action on IAQ? From 2001- 2003, Amity had serious IAQ issues (newspaper articles, angry parents) Key Moments in Building Program: – Sept. 2005: IAQ protocol issued and discussed with teachers – Oct. 2005: Superintendent handed out Certificates of Appreciation to custodians – Nov. 2005: Superintendent signed contract with top firm to provide comprehensive safety services – Jun. 2006: Teacher’s union president reported teachers pleased with TfS program; Cleaning equipment purchased. Contact Information Amity Regional School District No. 5 Jack B. Levine (203) 397-4813 jack.levine@reg5.k12.ct.us www.amityregion5.org Jack Levine: In addition, at the top level we have done a lot of work. The board brought in a safety service program and we have an online management work request system. This system makes it as easy as sending email. Teachers report problems through an online form that goes directly to maintenance. We get back to the teacher, letting them know what is being done. A student designed this program, so it was not a huge expense. 7 We have continued to develop what needs to be done on a daily and weekly basis so that people know what they are responsible for with cleaning. We purchased some new cleaning equipment. All of this and more has been done so that we can have the safest and healthiest schools possible. We issued a protocol and discussed this with teachers. It was important to not just tell people that we are going to do something, but to actually do it. You absolutely have to communicate what you are doing and why you are doing it. A lot of times the custodians think they are on the firing line with IAQ and actually, they are a big part of the solution. You need to give them credit when credit is due. In June 2006, we received a letter from the teacher’s union president, who was pleased with the program, we are happy to be working together with them. You do not need to spend a lot of money to have a successful program, remember that it will cost you more in the long run if you do not implement a good IAQ program. Tracy: Thank you, Jack. When you look at small school district with Herculean problems to overcome, this story applies to many other districts. Amity’s story demonstrates various aspects of the framework. Their ability to take IAQ management program and TfS and continually access and involve all of the right people and understand tools at all times was right on. They turned this into visible action and continued to communicate their actions. It also helped to have a highly placed champion for the program. They attached the program to educational tools in the district, connecting to the heart of what is at the heart of your district. Polling Question • What about this story is most compelling to you? How they got started Greatest achievement Greatest challenge Other Polling slide- reaction to Amity story… greatest challenge won. 8 We are going to turn to Shelly and Mark at Omaha and you can see with their titles how comprehensive the program is at Omaha. Omaha Public School District, NE Mark Warneke, Director, Buildings & Grounds and Shelley Bengtson, Environmental Specialist Omaha’s District Information • Number of schools: 84 • Number of students: 47,044 • Number of staff: 7,858 full and part-time • Total sq. ft. of building space: 10,319,525 • Age range of buildings: 1899 (107 yrs.) – 2006 • Setting of district: Urban and Suburban • Budget: $760,492,629 9 Mark Warneke: Shelley’s given me the easiest part of this presentation, the introduction. We have eighty-four schools, sixty-one elementary schools, eleven middle schools, five alternative schools, two facilities for temporary housing of students, and 257 portable classrooms. We have over 47,000 students, 7,800 full and part-time employees. Our buildings range in age from 1899- 2005. About Our IAQ Program • IAQ program in place for 15 years • Multi-discipline involvement • IAQ program implemented in 100% of schools • Program’s Greatest Achievement: – Becoming proactive, not reactive – Asthma awareness • Program’s Greatest Challenge: Effective communication Tackling IAQ • What was the defining moment(s) or key motivation in getting started on IAQ? – TfS Symposium scholarships sponsored by CEFPI • What was the defining moment(s) in taking action on IAQ? – Advantages of developing partnerships with city, county, federal agencies 10 Contact Information Omaha Public Schools Mark Warneke or Shelley Bengtson (402) 557-2800 mark.warneke@ops.org shelley.bengtson@ops.org www.ops.org Shelley Bengston: The environmental section was formalized in 1987 and since then we have established a program with standardized procedures. The district IAQ team has three environmental technicians, a plumber, energy management, school house planning, and others. Long term success of the program is due to many departments integrating the program into their long term plans. For example, IAQ is considered during the construction phase of both new buildings and renovations. Building staff is also a critical component and they need to feel comfortable to bring up inquiries. We have been fully implementing the program from 2005-2006, taking a proactive approach. We also have an asthma management program. The school nurses helped educate the school staff and I was amazed to see the ideas that started flowing after knowing the asthma triggers. Since the training, asthma related illnesses have decreased. Providing training for 404 custodians, thousands of nurses, and others was difficult, but showed how our actions were intertwined. Once the flow of information was increased, there was a huge decrease in complaints from portables. To eliminate the smell (from the growth under the portable rotting) we began clearing the vegetation underneath portables before they were set in place. Last year we only received one complaint from a portable. We were first introduced to the TfS program in 1995, but we found the checklists to be cumbersome, there was a great deal of concern about encroaching on teachers’ time. As a result, we used parts of the original checklists, but not their entirety. In 2003, Mark was sponsored by CEFPI and he was able to interact with other districts and we were able to see opportunities to implement this program. Douglas County received a grant and they 11 approached our district with voluntary IAQ TfS program. OPS received a grant to facilitate communication. This allowed us to overcome the training hurdle by putting our training videos online, along with links to IPM and asthma. Checklists are available on the Web site, and we have an electronic work order system and people are encouraged to call us if they want to talk about anything. In 2004, CEFPI sponsored me to attend the IAQ TfS Annual Symposium. OPS decided to implement IAQ TfS district-wide and they partnered with us to collect data. For OPS, the time and money became less a burden when we centralized the program. This also helped establish trust. By 2006, we had baseline data for all buildings. For example, the annual meeting for building engineers, our maintenance staff listened and put IAQ a high priority. Anyone involved with IAQ knows that it is constantly evolving, we try to attend as many IAQ conferences and meetings as possible. In 2001, we were concerned after 9/11. People threatened to walk off the job. There was odor investigation resulting in wet fiberglass. We are working more closely with the various groups and departments currently. We applied for a grant through the Clean School Bus Program, and were awarded the grant to retrofit the busses to minimize particulates. I encourage you to contact local health department and form an alliance with them. Tracy: Sometimes it’s difficult to say how to be proactive, but it’s good to give specific advice how to do this. I am going to hand the floor over the Susan from Visalia at this time. Visalia Unified School District Susan Cox, Ed.D. Director, Risk Management and Joe Haley Administrative Services Director (Maintenance) 12 Visalia’s District Information • 37 Schools: 24 Elementary; 4 Middle; 4 High; 1 Continuation; 1Community Day; 1 Independent Study; 1Special Day; and 1 Adult School • 26,400+ students in K-12 grades • 2,485 employees: 1,341 certificated and 1,144 classified • 2,294,633 total sq. ft. of building space of which one-third are portable classrooms • 73% of schools built before 1965, with 4 schools built in the past four years • A suburban district in an agricultural region • Budget revenue of $191,691,957 What was the key motivation in getting started on IAQ? • • In 2000, the local Courthouse was having significant mold issues. A “mold” scare at a school created concern among teachers and parents. Tackling IAQ Key Steps Taken to Launch Program Provide Initial and Ongoing IAQ Trainings EPA Region 9 conducted initial one day IAQ training for all Principals Site IAQ Coordinators trained to implement the TFS kit and program Specialized trainings focused on various interest groups Risk Communication trainings with key staff Ongoing awareness and trainings to staff and students Implement TfS program as a Fundamental District Policy Board, Superintendent, and management support of the program Develop district wide coordinated approach to IAQ issues Review & change procedures and practices Open communication about IAQ concerns 13 Contact Information Visalia Unified School District • Susan Cox, Ed.D. Phone: (559) 730-7868 scox@visalia.k12.ca.us • Joe Haley Phone: (559) 730-7589 jhaley@visalia.k12.ca.us • Lonnie Miller –Science Teacher & Student IAQ Advisor Student Group: aes@visalia.k12.ca.us • District Web site: www.visalia.k12.ca.us About Our IAQ Program • TfS Program in place for 6+ years • Members of District IAQ Team: Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services; Director of Risk Management; Administrative Services Director; Maintenance Supervisor; Custodial Supervisor; Grounds Supervisor; Lead HVAC Mechanic; Director of Student Services, along with Site Coordinators. • 100% of schools in district have implemented the IAQ program. • Greatest achievement: TfS principles have become the fundamental core elements of district’s coordinated effort and procedures to prevent and address IAQ issues in an open and direct manner both in existing and new facilities. • Ongoing challenge: Increasing the understanding of how IAQ issues are created by staff’s actions and affected by other factors. Maintenance & custodial procedures are aligned to TfS principals. Improve communications about IAQ in classrooms. Susan Cox: Visalia is a growing district with 34,000-35,000 students that we serve. We have 2.2 million ft. of building space, and 1/3 of the square footage is portable classrooms. We have two new elementary schools opening in August 2008. We are 14 located in a suburban area and agricultural area. We have challenges with outside air pollution, making addressing indoor air quality more difficult. Our experience is similar to Omaha and Amity, needless to say, we had a mold scare, in the spring of 2000. This heightened mold was due to the age of the portable classroomsmany were from the 1970s. There were concerns about wet ceiling tiles due to water coming into the classrooms. In California, water is very seasonal, so when we repair leaks in March, we may not get rain again until October to know it is fixed. Some teachers had significant concerns such as water condensing on the windows and weird smells. The district sent maintenance to examine the problem and they could not find mold growth. The teachers felt there was hidden mold, and the custodians found a cardboard box that was moldy, they walked out with the moldy cardboard with the children in the classroom. We hired a certified industrial hygienist to take care of the issue and this person conducted a through investigation of the portable classroom and found no mold growth. We moved four classrooms and took apart the classrooms and opened up the walls and found within the classrooms there had been water leakage but no mold growth. We took multiple air samples, and within three weeks after spring break we met with teachers and parents. The classrooms were clean and we provided them with all of the documentation. We did a full-day training with all of the school principals, discussing what the IAQ concern for schools were and how to openly address this. One of the teachers said that she saw something in a portable classroom that looked similar, we removed the mold and moved the students out of the classroom. We got started in the IAQ TfS Program because of the Safety committee, and the PTA, at the high school worked with interested parents. We developed a framework with TfS, we also, from the initial training, identified that we needed additional training for special interest groups. The board adopted a new policy, we conducted regionalized training for our maintenance staff, custodial staff and how to do a walk through, also risk communication with members of our staff. What was exciting for us was the newspapers gave us a series over a year and a half, showcasing our actions and trainings. This helped re-establish confidence in the district, after conducting the initial assessment, water quality, infiltration issues, and portable classrooms with no outside windows. There was and is board and top management support of the program and it is centrally run out of the Risk Management office. We created a work order system in our electronic system with a category for indoor air quality. We identified ways of how to report back to school what was done, and how to share that information with their staff. We looked at how often we were changing the HVAC filers, we changed to every 3 months, we check more frequently in our agricultural areas. We also changed to HEPA filers for our vacuums. 100% of schools are implementing the program. Tracy: The programs are robust and very successful. You’re a model for open communication, Visalia. Starting from your crisis, and your ability to openly respond. I love that you brought in training for risk communication, having this training can be pivotal in how you are able to respond to a crisis. Part of the communication effort was 15 training across many areas of interest. You were able to modify the program within the district. I think part of that is why you did not need additional funding, it is now part of the way you do business. I am fully confident that with the challenges that you see, you will surmount that challenge Questions 1. Tracy: We do have a number of questions in the queue, there is a question in your queue: how was your board convinced to take on this responsibility? Jack: I was not there, but I have heard the stories. The community was upset about everything going on, people do not like to see their school systems with so many problems. The new board members decided collectively that they needed to go in a new direction. They brought in a new superintendent and along with the board, he helped turn around the situation. 2. Tracy: A school district has been working for two years and they would like to know how the districts have been responding quickly and what happens when the pricy repairs come up? Susan: We do not have enough maintenance dollars to go around. We have outdated HVAC systems. Each school established their own priories and we established district wide priorities. Issues such as portable buildings that should not be occupied, we have to replace and removed the air coolers that were not HVAC systems. We installed windows in portable classrooms. On some of the bigger ticket items, we are waiting for funding. Fortunately, for the most part, I have not had to use a certified industrial hygienist, saving the district money. Shelley: I think it takes a lot of cooperation. Generally speaking, the maintenance director and I are on the same page with addressing these issues, for example, we have replaced what I call the “boulder catcher” filters with pleated filters and that has freed up some money for maintenance so they can take on the larger programs. I have to be careful what I can spend money on, we do take feedback from craftsman foreman and we lay those all out so we can try to get those taken care of in the next year. Jack: I think we all have limited resources, but we do a five year capital improvement plan for expenditures. Our experience as an example, sometimes when you do not spend the money, it costs you a lot more with lawsuits, complaints, and absenteeism. When you are wondering how you will get the money to do something, think about what would happen if you do not get the money. Jack: There was a question on communication and I want to briefly discuss this. I believe you need to be proactive and speak with the parent directly; this will go a long way. You can say that you have a plan to get to it and you have to be willing to take the first step, you have to keep getting things accomplished. Even if you are not addressing the big items, they will see you working on the issues. 16 3. Tracy: There is a lot of staff apathy to start IAQ programs, how have other panelists responded to this? Shelley: It was extremely difficulty to get people without problems to get started with this. There were concerns that this programs was taking away from the teachers’ time, so we put the burden on ourselves to collect this information. I do not know if we are going to have an IAQ team for each building, they need to get on with the educational process, which is fine and I understand. Shelley: Safety policy, in the very fabric and framework, the reminder is there, some schools conduct a walkthrough and we handle this through the centralized office, keeping the framework and communications open. The other issue is to continue to develop people’s levels of awareness. The nighttime crews demanded that the teachers take home the chemicals, those are health and learning issues for their students. Clutter that prohibits the classrooms from being cleaned is another problem. 4. Tracy: We have a question on dealing with outdated chemicals. Can you expand upon how you address this issue? Jack: We identify the chemicals that wee need to removed, it does cost money, but we do budget money for this. It is a pay me now or pay me later type of thing, so it is better to do this now that have a problem later on. Shelley: We have a very aggressive lead science teacher who approached me about this issue and we adopted the Flynn storage cabinet together. She talked to all science teachers and explained the arrangement we were going to and we rearranged the chemicals. It was a great opportunity to find out what was out in the schools. We started a chemical recycle list for the products that were in good shape, so that people looking for peroxide formers for instance, could get them from another school. Newer science teachers are more concerned with safety, so this is becoming easier to implement. Regarding CFL tube recycling, it is cheaper to have it recycled than disposed of. Closing Tracy: We are at the two hour mark and it is time to wrap up. This call is a testament to a value of the districts’ story. This keeps the program as strong as it is, shares success and gets these results more often. The other 2/3 of schools out there deserve good indoor air quality as well. Thanks for joining us! 17