School Health

The Asbestos Hazardous Emergency Response Act was established by the Environmental Protection Agency to protect students, educators, and staff from coming in contact with asbestos in schools.

Vermont Asthma-friendly School Program Becoming an asthma-friendly school is simple to do and benefits all students and staff—especially those who have been diagnosed with asthma. We know that most schools work hard to create safe and healthy learning environments –...

The Envision Program best practices are intended to provide school administrators, nurses, maintenance and building services staff with tools to use when planning for renovations, preventative maintenance, pest management and control, monitoring of drinking water, and other building activities.

Poor indoor air quality in schools has been linked to decreased student and teacher performance and increased absenteeism as well as acute and chronic health effects. The Envision Program was created to help schools address indoor air quality issues.

Becoming insured is the first step in being able to access health care and screenings for children and youth.

Vermont law requires all schools and licensed or registered child care facilities to test their drinking water for lead and remediate if levels are at or above 4 parts per billion (ppb).

Act 66, passed in 2019, requires all Vermont school and child care providers to test their drinking and cooking water for lead. If lead is found at or above the action level, the tap must be taken out of service...

The risk of lead poisoning can be reduced when schools are maintained in a way that lowers or eliminates sources of lead—such as lead-contaminated soil, lead dust, and chipping or peeling lead-based paint.

PCBs are a group of human-made chemicals that can cause serious health problems. Vermont has requirements for schools built or renovated before 1980 to test for PCBs in indoor air and to make fixes if levels are high.

For most school children and staff, the second largest contributor to their radon exposure is likely to be their school. In 2021, the Vermont legislature passed a law requiring all schools to test for radon.