Teachers and Healthy Indoor School Environments
Teachers can be powerful advocates for creating healthy indoor environments, including improving school indoor air quality or IAQ. As they are on the front lines, teachers can perceive when IAQ changes affect students and themselves. By being involved in creating a clean and healthy learning environment, teachers can promote health, wellness and academic productivity.
Top Actions Teachers Can Take to Address IAQ
- Keep ventilation units in classrooms free of clutter.
- Report any IAQ issues and maintenance problems occurring in classrooms and hallways immediately.
- If classroom pets cause allergic reactions or trigger asthma attacks, either relocate the pet away from sensitive students or consider replacing the animal with a classroom fish, or an animal that will not trigger allergy and asthma attacks in any students. Some school districts have policies that ban pets with fur or feathers.
- Reduce the number of items made of cloth in your classroom, including furniture, draperies or stuffed animals. These materials attract dust mites, which can negatively impact sensitive students.
- Practice chemical management in your schools, if appropriate.
- Understand the effects of poor IAQ on student and staff productivity and health.
- Review the IAQ and Student Performance information and resources.