Breaking the cycle through better school siting: a collaborative project to facilitate the effective . use of EPA's guidelines with Georgia's educational leaders

摘要

The benefits of screening potential school sites for environmental hazards and the special vulnerability of children to environmental pollutants and toxins are well understood. Less apparent, and less widely discussed until recently, are other health concerns associated with school location, such as ready access to healthy food options and opportunities for safe walking and bicycling. In recent years, a variety of stakeholders interested in children's wellness in school settings have expressed concerns about the trend to place larger schools further away from the communities they serve. In some cases, this trend can worsen environmental health risks, such as air pollution, and reduce opportunities for physical activity, with disproportionate impacts on communities already burdened with multiple stressors. This paper describes a project in Georgia that helps school system decision makers more fully integrate children's environmental health and wellness concerns into all aspects of school siting planning, through a training curriculum based on the US Environmental Protection Agency's 2011 School Siting Guidelines. Two training modules have been developed. Preliminary feedback indicates that the process itself - convening a diverse set of stakeholders with different expertise related to children's environmental health, community planning, and school system planning - results in new partnerships and the consideration of other perspectives. Better integration of municipal and school planning and improved understanding of environmental health considerations can improve public health outcomes for the entire community.