EPA Guidance and Tools for Schools
These resources address a broad range of issues that affect children's health in schools, from selecting appropriate locations for schools to maintaining the buildings and grounds. Use them to assess your school's environmental health efforts and implement or improve related programs, policies and procedures.
In this section...
- Law, Regulation, and Policy Guidelines
- Clean, Green, and Healthy Schools Regional Highlights
- School Siting Guidelines
- State School Environmental Health Guidelines
- Toolkit for Safe Chemical Management
- Healthy Schools Research Grants
Find more from...
EPA and Federal Partners
- Creating Healthy Indoor Environments in Schools is an EPA website that offers information and resources for school officials, facilities staff members, teachers, health care professionals, parents and students to help improve IAQ in schools. The website includes:
- Idle-Free Schools Toolkit by EPA includes information on running an effective idling reduction campaign at school in order to reduce student exposure to toxic vehicle exhaust. Resources are also provided to make the campaign a student-run science or community involvement project.
- ENERGY STAR for K-12 School Districts describes EPA's partnership with schools across the country to provide technical support, guidance on financing options and recognition for schools wanting to use energy more efficiently. ENERGY STAR has coordinated with EPA's Indoor Air Quality program to address the overlap between energy efficiency upgrades and indoor environmental quality, and it has launched an energy performance rating tool in schools.
- Managing Your Environmental Responsibilities: A Planning Guide for Construction and Development is an EPA guidance manual for owners, contractors, architects and other personnel involved with construction and development that provides comprehensive environmental information to assist with pre-construction and construction phases as well as continuing self-audits.
- The Coordinated School Health Strategy (CHS) section of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website outlines the rationale and goals for CSH, provides a model framework for planning and implementing CSH and offers resources to help schools, districts and states improve their school health programs.
- Sensible Steps to Healthier School Environments is a guide to cost-effective, affordable measures to protect the health of students and school staff.
- The Guide for K-12 Schools Food Recovery provides a number of resources on reducing food waste.
The following links exit the site Exit
National Organizations
- Environmental Health Legislation Databases Guide by the National Conference of State Legislatures includes summaries of state legislation on topics such as air quality, asbestos, lead, mercury, pesticides, radon, water and more. The database is searchable by keyword, year, state, topic and citation.
- Information for Schools That Serve Kindergarten Through 12th Grade is offered on the Campus Environmental Resource Center for Higher Education. The website provides materials and tools designed as an environmental compliance assistance resource for principals, facility operators and managers, maintenance staff and environmental professionals, as well as other community stakeholders.
- Environmental Health is addressed on the Center for Health and Health Care in Schools website, providing links to information on air, water and sanitation safety; biological and chemical safety; and more.