School Board Questionnaire

Tag Greason

A. Healthy Schools /Environmental Hazards

It is well documented that children are most susceptible to environmental hazards in their environment.� Under current policy, our children are potentially exposed in school to environmental hazards such as pesticides, commercial cleaning products, lead, mold, poor indoor air quality (especially in portable classrooms), and industrial emissions at and around school. As more is learned about the effect on student health of these hazards, school systems nationwide are seeking alternatives to pesticides, herbicides and toxic cleaning materials whenever possible and seeking to use the least-toxic alternatives when constructing new schools.

1. Do you support the creation of an interdepartmental task force to review and revise maintenance practices and materials policies to improve the health and safety of our students?��

Absolutely, yes.

Environmental Hazards Comments: I too share these concerns for both adults and children and see no good reason why decreases in environmental hazards should not be pursued in an exhaustive manor.

B. Healthy Schools /School Nutrition

Research shows that efforts to improve school health and nutrition have significant impact on school performance.�� Childhood obesity and other chronic diseases are at epidemic levels; research shows that this is very closely linked to poor nutritional intake in children.�� Loudoun County, with our good soil and rural farms has the unique opportunity to initiate reforms to improve the health of our children through food policies and education.� Please rank the following initiatives according to your priorities (#1 through 8):

1.� Restrict sale of candy, soda, sweets at/through the school

3.� Adopt a �Healthy snacks� and �Healthy Parties� policy

2.� Upgrade the nutritional quality of food offered in school lunches

7.� Initiate partnerships between local farms and school food-service

8.� Incorporate in-school kitchen gardens and local food economy education

4.� Provide meal preparation and food selection workshops

6.� Teach the significance of packaging and processed foods to ecological and personal
���� health

5.� Reinforce learned concepts by extending education to parents

2. As a school board member, will you show your commitment to student health by initiating an initial review and follow-up trial programs to improve food service offerings (lunches, vending machines, extra-curricular fund-raising food sales) YES

3.� The first step in changing practices is educating.�� Will you support the creation and adoption of food selection curriculum for students and parents guided by sustainability and personal health concepts?� YES

School Nutrition Comments: Again, these ideas and concepts are similar to those that I incorporate into my family�s daily life.� I see no reason why these ideas should not be reinforced, or introduced at an early age.
C.� Green Schools��

�Green building� is a loosely defined collection of land-use, building design, and construction strategies that reduce the environmental impacts that buildings have on their surroundings.� Conventionally constructed buildings consume more of our resources than necessary, generate large amounts of waste, and expose inhabitants to environmental hazards through their materials and design.� In addition to consideration of materials and architecture, building location & transportation are considered in designing a green building.

Loudoun County Schools is poised to follow the lead of Arlington, Fairfax and Montgomery Counties in adopting school construction & maintenance standards and policies that improve school performance, save money in life-cycle costs, and provide a model for other Loudoun industries to follow.

4. Would you support changes to the school building standards to accommodate sustainable features that would provide a healthier environment for our children, use resources sustainably and generate life cycle cost savings for the taxpayers? YES

Green Schools Comments:

Even though �going green� has become much more main stream, I have been a long time proponent of making changes in my own home to conserve and see no reason why schools and other public buildings can make this part of their normal operating procedures.

D. Sustainable Schools Initiative

We recognize that the changes we have proposed will require time to plan and execute.�� We intend to support school board members who provide the guidance and vision to promote the necessary policies and initiatives with wisdom and determination.

LCPS currently maintains an Energy Education Program whose mission has been "to reduce the use of energy throughout the school system".   LCPS could expand the mission and personnel of this office to develop resources that will embed sustainable development principles in school buildings, the curriculum and the community.> 



A school-wide Sustainable Schools initiative would encompass evaluation of current practices and recommendations with respect to global warming emissions, waste streams, and natural resource depletion in the facilities construction, maintenance and operation systems.   It would emphasize problem solving and respect for the interdependent web of life, and foster commitment to sustainable development within the curriculum.  School staff could make use of the resources that already exist for these types of evaluations and programs. 5) Would you support the creation of a school system-wide Sustainable Schools initiative? YES  6) Initiatives that support sustainability have positive effects beyond their environmental focus:� cost savings, improved school performance, student and staff health, etc.�� However, there may also be obstacles to pursuing sustainable strategies in our school system.�� What impediments do you foresee and how would you deal with them?
 
New ways of thinking often encounter resistance.� It is important to support new ideas with facts and figures and re-enforce the new concepts as often as possible.� Additionally, there is the possibility that the upfront investment needed to support these changes will require increased clarity on the long-term benefits of the changes.� These long-term benefits will have to be calculated accurately and articulated clearly to ensure �buy-in� from all interested parties.� Lastly, it is possible that the benefits of these new initiatives will not take effect until after the term of this newly elected School Board expires.� It is possible that the new School Board (elected in Nov 2011) may not align with these ideals and programs initiated today may be at risk.� 
 
 
Sustainable Schools Initiative Comments: Nothing additional

 
Additional Comments: Thank you for taking the initiative in this area.� As I have mentioned repeatedly above, I can see no reason why these ideas should not be incorporated in the everyday life of Loudoun County Public Schools. .
 
Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your questionnaire.
 
Respectfully Submitted,