Safe classrooms also means healthy air

Now more than ever, cleaning and disinfecting are big priorities for schools.

MRSA, the drug-resistant and sometimes deadly staph that's easily spread among students, and mold, which has shut down suburban schools, make cleaning a major concern.

But asthma also is a big issue, as anyone knows who's seen the lineup of students' inhalers in a school nurse's cabinet. Asthma cases have doubled since 1980, and children with asthma have more severe symptoms than in the past.

The two priorities collided with scientific findings that common cleaners can both increase the risk of a child developing asthma and trigger asthma attacks. That's why we're behind the Green Cleaning Schools Act, which now requires Illinois private and public schools to use less toxic, environmentally sensitive cleaning supplies.

At the same time, we call on schools to do more to ensure clean indoor air and protect students' health. Testing for toxins inside mobile classrooms and devising ways to reduce exposure to school bus fumes are steps that every school district should take.

Some already are in the lead, like Gurnee Elementary District 56, where one middle school nurse says illness and asthma attacks have dropped by half since maintenance workers started using "green" cleaning supplies this school year.

A few years ago, Elgin Area School District U-46 began equipping school buses to reduce emissions, which affect not only riders but also whole schools as buses idle near open doors or air intake vents.

A Bartlett mother's persuasiveness prompted U-46 to test the air in mobile classrooms at 64 schools, based on federal study results released in February that found high levels of formaldehyde in many trailers and mobile homes provided to displaced victims of Hurricane Katrina. The classrooms, essentially large, specially outfitted mobile homes, house thousands of suburban children for all or part of the school day. Formaldehyde levels were found to be within the normal range in U-46 mobile classrooms, according to the company that did the tests.

The Illinois Association of School Boards strongly opposed the Green Cleaning requirement, saying schools don't need more state mandates or added costs. We sympathize with the concern over more mandates, and the recent legislation does allow schools to opt out if they can document the new cleaners cost that much more.

Yet, this is the new reality. As research establishes these hazards exist, schools must take action to protect our children. It's up to the state to set minimum standards, both for consistency and to ensure all schools address air quality.

Meanwhile, we'd like to hand it to schools' maintenance staffs, who now are helping make our kids' environment both clean and green.