New Hampshire Received $40,747 from EPA for Two Environmental Projects at Public Schools

Release date: 10/28/2005

Contact Information:

Contact: Sheryl Rosner (rosner.sheryl@epa.gov), EPA Office of Public Affairs, (617) 918-1865

For Immediate Release: October 28, 2005; Release # sr051020

Two projects in New Hampshire were awarded healthy community grants totaling $40,747 from the US Environmental Protection Agency to build upon ongoing environmental and public health initiatives in New Hampshire Schools, the regional administrator of EPA’s New England office announced at a media event this morning. The two cooperative agreements announced today at the Gossler Park School in Manchester, NH, are aimed at supporting healthy, livable and safe communities.

The NH Department of Environmental Services received $25,905 through a cooperative agreement to provide technical assistance in the form of newly developed software to public schools across the state. The Manchester Education Association received $14,842 for its Healthy Schools Indoor Air Quality Program. The announcement of these grants, which were among 23 Healthy Communities Grants awarded across New England, was part of EPA’s celebration of Children’s Health Month in October.

“Investing in schools is an investment in our children and our future,” noted Robert W. Varney, regional administrator of EPA’s New England office. “The indoor air quality, the safety of the drinking water, and the general environmental health of a school is particularly important, given the number of people impacted and the extra sensitivity children have to environmental problems.“

The cooperative agreements will fund the following:

NH Department of Environmental Services ($25,905) – The money will be used to help school district facility managers at public schools implement the new EPA Healthy School Environments Assessment Tool. This software is designed to help school districts identify, prioritize and manage their environmental responsibilities. It lets school district staff track environmental health and safety conditions by school, and generate customized checklists and reports. DES will customize this software for New Hampshire school districts and then offer training sessions across the state. The project is being done in partnership with the NH Department of Health and Human Services, the NH Department of Education, health departments in both Manchester and Nashua, and the NH Partnership for High Performing Schools as founded by the Jordan Institute. EPA will measure environmental and health improvements in school districts that receive training on the software. The program aims at holding four training sessions that will train one fourth of all facility managers at public schools, including two urban school districts.

Manchester Education Association ($14,842) – This money will fund the Manchester Healthy School Indoor air Quality Program. Indoor air quality problems at the schools are widely reported by educators and parents. This program will address the problem, which threatens school achievement, by putting in place EPA’s Tools for Schools Indoor Air Quality program at 16 of the district’s 24 schools. Each school will build an Indoor Air Quality team, which will hold monthly meetings to document health complaints, put in place the Tools for Schools kit and evaluate progress. Partners include the NH Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health, the Manchester School District, the Manchester Coalition for Quality Education, the DES, the city Health Department, the Mayor’s Office, the Manchester Education Support Personnel Association, the Manchester District-Wide School Safety Committee; the National Education Association of NH and the NH Asthma Control Project.

Healthy Communities Grants are targeted to invest action in environmental justice areas of potential concern, places with high risks from toxic air pollution, service sensitive populations, and/or are urban areas. The broad areas intended to be addressed include: Assistance & Pollution Prevention: Schools Sector; Asthma; Children's Environmental Health; Community Air Toxics; Pesticides; Smart Growth; Tools for Schools; Toxics; and the Urban Environmental Program.

More information on EPA New England’s Healthy Community Grants is available at: http://www.epa.gov/ne/eco/uep/grants_2005hc.html.

Related Information:
Community Grants Program
Pollutants/Toxics